


Gohan & Piccolo Save Future!!

by ekrolo2



Series: Save Trilogy!!! [2]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Epic Battles, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-27 04:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13873338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ekrolo2/pseuds/ekrolo2
Summary: Goku Black and Zamasu have beaten both Goku and Vegeta back into the past for the second time. Upon learning of the terrible danger Future Trunks is in, Gohan and Piccolo enter the fray to help defeat this new threat and save the future from complete annihilation! [Sequel to Yamcha & Ox-King Save The World!]





	1. Preparations

**Author's Note:**

> I never expected to do a sequel to this but a couple of ideas came to mind for how to do it so I said screw it! Let's make it happen!
> 
> For those of you questioning the sequence of events, Yamcha & Ox-King Save the World ended with their dish appetizing Beerus and leaving the Earth without fighting Goku. Later on, Goku and Vegeta managed to coax a visiting Whis to train them and so they do, attaining Super Saiyan Blue without God! Since Beerus' blast killed Sorbet and Shisami, Resurrection F never happened while the U6 Tournament and the Black arc, up until this chapter which is in episode 62 of Super, stayed roughly the same.
> 
> I expect this to stay roughly the same length as the previous story so expect 3-5 chapters at absolute most.

"But if you don't hurry, the bigger me will die!"

Their Trunks shouted at the assembled adults, smacking his palms against the table surface as he brought himself up from the chair. After a heated discussion, the newly arrived members of their group consisting of Gohan's mother, little brother, Krillin, Piccolo momentarily fell into a shocked silence. The others already more involved in this apparent crisis quieted down at the possibility of this prediction coming true.

None more so than Gohan.

He honestly believed everything was alright when his old friend, Future Trunks, came to visit, and they spent the day hanging out a while ago. His excitement of having his old friend back after so long and him meeting Videl and Pan blinded him. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, and after hearing about this Goku Black, Zamasu, and everything they'd done, he felt foolish.

Gohan didn't question his old friends tired and shaken appearance. His occasional haunted stares at nothing or how on edge he seemed.

What possessed him to just ignore all the sign, he wondered when he could so vividly recall it now?

"Trunks,..." He lamely whispered.

"He's fighting them all on his own now," Bulma spoke up.

He noticed his father slump into the couch just a smidge more and Vegeta's whole body tense. The others reacted similarly to the kids gluing their eyes to the floor, Krillin chewing on the inside of his cheek. Only Piccolo was visibly the same. Someone who didn't know him well might think he didn't care at all about the whole affair.

But from the slight downward head tilt and a specific curl of his lip, Gohan could tell he was just as worried as the others. He knew him well enough to notice the slight differences.

Not well enough to notice he was hiding this from me, his familiar temper spiked for the second time this conversation. Something in his look or demeanor must have visibly changed judging by Bulma's and the others reactions. How they were very purposefully avoiding to look at him the same way Goten used to when he was keeping a secret.

Vegeta was too busy planning to notice his accusatory scowl sweep across the room, while Piccolo was very deliberately doing so before anyone else.

If this happened 15 years ago, he would have shouted at the others for keeping this from him and entered a long, ultimately pointless argument. But he wasn't that little boy prone to outbursts anymore. With a long, deliberate sigh he used to ease all Goten or Pan or mom related frustrations, his anger sidelined. His hurt feelings were the least important topic to discuss now.

"Not for long," He told them firmly. "We're going to the future, and this time we'll win."

Surprise was the first reaction he got, followed soon after by approving smirks from his father, Piccolo and especially Vegeta.

"Y-you mean you're going to fight too, big brother?"

"I have no choice, Goten, Trunks needs all the help he can get and I couldn't live with myself if I just stood on the sidelines doing nothing. Especially after everything I've heard."

"A sentiment I approve," Vegeta spoke as he crossed his arms. "But you're not exactly in peak form, even after your supposed training with Piccolo, your power falls short of your old peak."

That much was true. After Yamcha and his grandfather saved the world from Beerus, no more threats attacked Earth... directly, anyway. He infrequently spared Piccolo prior to that event and Pan's birth, just enough to stay in shape, but his little girl's arrival changed everything.

He had so many more responsibilities not just at home, but also at his job at the university. Despite his initial skepticism, it would work, Gohan's decision to study chi itself earned some interest from the university board.

For a long time, he considered writing an entire study on the subject. To inform the regular populace of Earth on chi and hopefully help expand their viewpoints on it.

That earned him an argument or two with Mister Satan who wanted the "tricks" to stay as such.

Ironically, studying chi and parenting didn't leave much time to train his own anymore. Only now did he feel the divide between his current strength and what it was just a few years ago.

Nevertheless, Trunks was in trouble, and Gohan wouldn't stay behind on the sidelines. Even if Trunks himself clearly wanted him to...

"That's where dad can help," He placed a hand on his father's shoulder. "You can take me to the Sacred World of the Kai's!"

"That ain't a bad idea Gohan!" His father exclaimed. "Old man Kaioshin'll get you in-fightin' shape again pronto!"

"Will it be enough though? Need I remind you Kakarot that we've far surpassed Gohan's peak abilities."

"Peaks change all the time Vegeta!" Goku countered. "When I was a kid an' drank some water to unlock all my power! Obviously, that wasn't true!"

Vegeta answered with his usual scowl before imperceptibly nodding. "Fair point, but I still say extra training will accomplish all the more for your abilities."

"Tell you what, if Elder Kai can unlock my potential again, I'll join you in the Room of Spirit and Time."

A familiar glint was Vegeta's eye after hearing that. A specific look which used to terrify Gohan back when they were enemies.

"Training with you, hm? That will be most interesting, I think."

"Not to rain on your meat head parade," Bulma cut in. "Zamasu's still a problem. How do you intend to stop him when he's invincible?"

"With the Mafuba," Piccolo answered, getting everyone's attention on himself. "With the technique, you can seal this Zamasu away regardless of his supposed immortality."

"Uhh, what's the Mafuba?" Trunks asked from behind Piccolo.

"A special sealing technique, invented by Master Mutaito, the Turtle Hermit's teacher from his youth. Long ago, in a simpler age of mankind, a destructive Demon King rose to threaten all humanity. Mutaito and his students rose up to fight him and the old Demon King was sealed by Mutaito using the Mafuuba, containing his wave of evil for many years," Piccolo smirked knowingly at Goku. "Until a certain someone rose up to finish him off."

"Do-doesn't that technique kill you if you use it?" Krillin stammered out, Piccolo shook his head before explaining.

"If you're weaker than the target, then yes, it may kill you. However, I get the impression Black is the real problem in terms of power. Zamasu seems to compensate by syncing with Black and his immortality."

"That's more or less it," His father confirmed with a nod. "Once he's out of the way, the four of us can take down Black no problem!"

"If I don't settle the score first," Vegeta sharply rose from his chair, making it scrape painfully against the marble floor. "I'm heading to the Room of Spirit and Time to train. The rest of you make the other arrangements," He glanced at Bulma on the way out. "When can we head back to the future?"

"12 hours, give or take."

"Can't you just time travel back to the point when you left?" Goten asked from his mother's side, opposite his father. "You can train as long as you need then go when you're definitely ready."

"I wish we could, Goten," Bulma shook her head sadly. "But if we did that, we'd simply split the timeline again, creating a separate version of the future. Meaning we'd save one Trunks and doom the other."

"Precisely, so stop wasting time and go already!" Vegeta shouted before dashing out of the room, shaking the whole building from the blast of his impact as he headed off towards the Lookout.

"Vegeta's got the right idea," Goku leaped off the couch and gave his son a firm pat on the back. "Faster we start, the more progress we'll make, right?"

"My thoughts exactly," Piccolo nodded in approval. "Make haste with dropping off Gohan with the Elder Kaioshin. Then return here so I can begin your training with the Mafuba."

"You want to teach it to me?" His father asked in genuine surprise.

"Why not? After all, I did devise a perfect counter for it all those years ago and I'm certainly much less rusty then the Turtle Hermit is."

"He does have a point dad," Gohan voiced his support for his old master, despite a lingering feeling of frustration with him somewhere in the back of his mind for choosing to keep this incident a secret. "If anyone can you give a good crash course, it's Piccolo."

"I guess you're right," His father rubbed his head thoughtfully. "It has been a while since the two of us got a chance to train, after all, it could be fun!"

"We'll see how you feel about it when we start," Piccolo smiled knowingly at his dad, another look Gohan recognized very well from childhood. Specifically, whenever Piccolo had some new trick or trap in his training he was eager to spring on him.

That's when he remembered something that completely slipped his mind. Turning to his brother and mother, Gohan asked them. "Could you tell Videl I'll probably miss dinner tonight? I know it's all extremely sudden but I can't afford to lose more time, now with a 12-hour deadline."

"Sure, thing!" Goten exclaimed enthusiastically. "Just promise to smash that Black guy's face for killing me, alright?"

"My thoughts exactly!" His mother exclaimed and it took everything Gohan had not to suffer a heart attack. Clearly, she picked up on the blank look he and his father were giving her. "What? That bastard, hurt my family and killed my baby! Don't you two dare let him get away with it a second more than he already has! Am I understood?!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" The two oldest males of the Son family said in unison, still taken aback by Chi-Chi giving her approval. Gohan imagined Videl saying the same to him, probably just as fiercely. He couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly at the mental image of that.

Then it struck him, having even his mom's support felt incredible. It always weighed on him, knowing how much she worried whenever he fought. Knowing this wouldn't weigh him down for once felt liberating.

"Ready to go?" His father asked, placing his fingers on his forehead for teleportation.

"Definitely."

 


	2. Training, Start!

**12 Hours Until Departure, Sacred World of the Kai's**

"And here I was, hoping you'd decided to keep your old promise." Elder Kaioshin sighed at Gohan, Kaioshin, and Kibito as they stood atop a lavish, green hill. One of seemingly countless spread across the equally vibrant Kai home planet.

Gohan forgot just how beautiful a place it was. There seemed no end to the green fields, clear running rivers or the cloudless sky overhead. Spending so much time behind desks and books made him appreciate nature whenever he could. Even during times of crisis. The thought crossed his mind to go on a vacation here. Although, Elder Kaioshin possibly pestering Videl didn't sit right with him.

The first thing the old deity asked them where was the pretty girl his father promised years ago. Back when they were convincing him to unlock Gohan's potential the first time. Gohan hoped the matter of the girl wouldn't come up again. Judging by his slumped shoulders and the extra lines adorning his already wrinkled face, Gohan's wish was coming true. It only took this whole catastrophe orchestrated by a fellow Kai to make it happen.

"To think one of us could commit such atrocities," Elder Kaioshin shook his head, sounding older than Gohan had ever heard him before. "As loathe as I am to admit it, only the Dragon Balls could fix such senseless destruction thoroughly enough."

"Assuming they aren't all destroyed," Kaioshin spoke up from his right. Looking just as concerned as his elder. "Removing possible difficulties to their ambition. It's likely their informant Zuno is also dead."

"I knew Zamasu garnered some ill will towards humans," Kibito commented from Gohan's side, his eyes glued to the floor. "But to go so far? Madness, there's no other word for it."

"Not everyone can rise above their personal issues lad, Zamasu's fall does not reflect poorly on yourself. It only highlights your strength of character."

Gohan remembered how Kibito similarly didn't have a high opinion of humans either. At least, he didn't before. Zamasu going to such an extreme over similar feelings to Kibito's own must have disturbed the God. It hit too close to home.

Still, his elder's words seemed to make him feel better. His body, stiff as a statue after Gohan and his fathers account of events seemed to ease, just slightly. "Thank you, revered ancestor."

"Now then, let's get to the matter at hand," Elder Kaioshin's usual grumpy energy reasserted itself as he looked at Gohan and his father. "It goes without saying how I disapprove of your time travel antics. But, unless Beerus and Whis resolve the matter themselves, it falls to you and the others to stop Zamasu."

"So you'll help me get my old power back! Thank you so much, sir!" Gohan bowed in genuine gratitude, getting a soft scoff out of the old God.

"Amazing how different father and son are," Elder Kaioshin muttered, referring to how Gohan's father rushed out an excuse, waved goodbye, good luck then immediately left. Leaving Gohan alone to explain the entire situation. "I'll help you lad, but I can't guarantee it will make much difference."

"What do you mean sir?"

"What I mean is that you're a well already dug out. I don't expect you to have much left for me to draw I already haven't."

Gohan did not like the sound of that at all. "B-But sir! My dad said I should have more potential now than before!"

"Your father says and does a lot of stupid things, doesn't make them true," The God irritably snapped. "The fact of the matters is, I draw at all your hidden strength years ago. All you could ever attain. Another go won't change much, though it will pass quite a bit faster if its any consolation."

"But how can that possibly be? I've always had more potential to go, even after it supposedly getting unlocked!"

"My ritual, as I already told you, unlocks everything you have and then some. Everyone, even you lad, runs out of inborn power to unleash at some point."

Gohan felt deflated by this news. He hoped to reach a new, incredible level of power again, one good enough to let him help his father, Vegeta and most importantly Trunks. Being stronger than  **just**  Majin Boo wasn't going to cut it anymore. Even in the Room of Spirit and Time, would just a few months of fighting and training with Vegeta make any real difference?

A sudden reminder of Trunks' dire situation and his diminishing 12-hour deadline cut through his doubts like a blast through a mountain. After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Gohan gingerly removed his glasses and sat down on the grassy hill. Showing no signs of fear or anxiety.

"Then help me get as much as you can, I'll take care of the rest, sir."

* * *

**10 Hours Until Departure, Capsule Corp HQ**

"MMMAAAFFFUUUBBBAAA!"

Goku's shout cut into the usual calm of the night, reverberating across the area like an avalanche. His arms were fully outstretched, palms open and trained at the target of the technique. An Earthling sized robot, decommissioned by Bulma's father decades ago. Piccolo was the one to ask for it, saying how an object with the proportions of a living creature would improve Goku's training. Sucking a phone or toaster into the Mafuba jar was not the same as capturing a person.

As expected, the area just ahead of Goku transformed into a wild vortex of green, swirling energy. Opposite Goku was the robot, while the containment jar was right at Goku's left leg. Slowly but surely, the robot became a part of the twisting energy around it. It's vaguely Earthling shape bent into an unnatural, elongated form, trying to become part of the vortex itself.

Trying being the keyword.

Just from the amount of time it took for the vortex itself to appear, Piccolo knew it wasn't going to work. The apparent difficulty Goku had with shifting the robots physical form into a malleable state cemented his prediction. Still, he had to admit Goku's quick progress with the technique. Just an hour ago, creating the vortex seemed too difficult for him. Now? He was already halfway to mastering it.

With a loud thud, the robot fell halfway to the jar with Goku almost joining it as he gasped for breath and braced himself on his knees. It didn't keep the smile off his face.

"Good, that's a whole quarter of the way more than last time!"

"Indeed it is," Piccolo spoke as he approached him, lifting the robot back to place with a bit of telekinesis. With the same ability, he snatched a nearby water bottle and flung it to Goku. "A part of me was worried the bigger target would prove to difficult with our tight schedule but as usual," Piccolo smiled. "You're making it work."

"It's a pretty tough move," Goku commented after a mouthful of water. "Not the kind I usually use too, but we're kinda low on options."

"Indeed, it's possible Whis or Beerus know of some other technique. But Bulma's baiting them with food hasn't brought them back, this time."

"Fine by me" Goku stretched after emptying the bottle. "Beerus winning this for us would rub me the wrong way, y'know?"

"I'm curious to see what exactly Vegeta plans to do. Unless he's got another transformation or strategy to work on, I can't imagine how he'll become over a dozen times stronger in six months. Even if Gohan decides to join him."

"That's a pretty specific number, don't cha think?"

Piccolo narrowed his eyes at the Saiyan. "How do you mean? If your Kaio-Ken times ten hasn't worked with Blue, Vegeta has quite a gap to close if he intends to beat this Black."

Goku's stretching came to a sudden halt, followed by an awkwardly long, nervous chuckle. "Well, you see," He slowly brought himself back up to full height. "I sorta... haven't used it... at all..."

Piccolo continued to stare at him for a long moment. "May I ask why?"

"Well, y'know, I don't like to end a fight too soon."

It sounded plausible to the Namekian. Goku'd already done it once when Black invaded the present. Doing it again was well within the realm of possibility for the man-in-question. There were just two problems with this explanation.

"You also want to fight someone at their best," Piccolo casually pointed out, keeping his suspicion hidden. "From what you've told us, Black gets stronger the more he fights you. I'd think you'd want to see just how far he can go, within reason, of course."

"Uhh, well,..." Goku awkwardly glanced around, purposefully avoiding Piccolo's steady gaze. The Namekain noted the uncanny resemblance of father and son as he did it.

"Vegeta also mentioned how you went berserk when Black taunted you about Chi-Chi and Goten. I assumed you'd use your full strength on someone after that, even at the cost of enjoying yourself."

"I was pretty hurt when it happened though!" Goku suddenly got more confident, as if he'd found a sure-fire a way to squirm out of Piccolo's questioning. "There was this big hole in my chest! if I used the Kaio-Ken, I'd die!"

"Doesn't explain why you've purposefully avoided its use on your first trip to the future," Piccolo pointed out, already noticing Goku deflate. "The situation was pretty dire then too, but according to you, you refrained from using the Kaio-Ken with Blue."

Piccolo kept a steady gaze on his Saiyan friend, noticing the beads of fresh sweat pouring down the sides of his face. He could even hear his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Not even the Mafuba made it beat quite so quickly, and that could kill him. The dead giveaway was Goku's face, how he suddenly looked very old and tired.

He'd only seen that expression on him once before, very recently in fact. With the dots connected, Piccolo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You're afraid you'll permanently damage your body if you try it again."

Goku looked momentarily surprised at the statement, even ready to deny it. But something in Piccolo's expression must've told him it was okay to admit it. They'd spoken about this already when Goku admitted the illness to him in privacy. So, instead of awkwardly denying it or fumbling around it, Goku simply plopped down on the ground.

"Kaio said it would stick if I used my ki recklessly again," He sounded old and tired too, Piccolo noted. "I'd stop getting stronger, y'know?"

"I assumed," Piccolo sat down as well, crossing his legs a meditative pose. "Still, I wouldn't think it would bother you so much. You're not usually one for worrying about what ifs."

He chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, but I don't know. Something about this just bugs me..."

Piccolo knew quite well what he meant, even if Goku couldn't find the words to say it. They were alike in that way, not great with expressing doubts or fears. Piccolo was simply more... intelligent in acknowledging this part of himself while Goku was simpler in his thought process'.

"It's understandable why you'd be worried about this. More so than anyone else I know, the prospect of not getting stronger, of testing yourself is a frightening one to consider."

"You don't know the half of it, I don't know what'd I do if I couldn't train anymore..."

"You'd find something else to occupy your time."

"Sure, and I do really like hanging out with Goten and Pan and all that stuff. But," He sighed. "I don't know..."

"If would be enough to replace training and fighting?" Piccolo finished his train of thought, smirking at Goku's surprised look. "Take it from someone who got over this years ago, you'd do just fine."

"What'd ya mean?" Goku asked, looking a little better now that his curiosity was being peaked.

This time it was Piccolo who sighed, feeling they should continue their training instead of losing time on this. But Goku holding back was a practical concern, as much as a personal one. Solving it along with helping him master the Mafuba could just guarantee their victory and an end to this latest mess.

Crossing his arms, Piccolo double checked no one else was around to hear this before he started. "When Gohan fought Cell, I cursed myself and my own weakness. I could do nothing but simply stare in awe and fear at his and Cell's powers. I felt useless and for a while, it pushed me to train harder than ever. Gohan even joined me for a while, the recent events incentivized him to not let up and for a while, we kept at it."

"Goten changed a lot, with a baby brother, mom and studying to do, Gohan eventually stopped coming. He was happy and comfortable, which was fine by me. What wasn't," He tried to recall his feelings from then. "Was I hit a plateau. Nothing I did change much anymore, not even a couple of tries with Vegeta. I knew I'd reached, more or less, my limit," He grinned. "That infuriated me for a long while."

"But eventually, maybe from getting comfortable myself, or from joining back with Kami again, I started to... cool off. Accept things. That fighting drive left me, my punches and kicks were replaced by meditation, spending time with Dende, helping around your house, enjoying my old stomping grounds," He smiled. "Then taking care of that little ball of energy you call a granddaughter."

"You really don't miss it?" Goku asked, looking at him as if he'd grown a second head. "For reals?"

"For reals," He nodded. "I'm fine with helping out when I can, like tonight for example or getting my hands dirty if no one else is available. But honestly? Looking back on my fear and anger for losing my edge? Feels like just some necessary growing pains, you wouldn't imagine all the other things I'd miss if I stayed like that."

"And you were pretty serious about fighting then..." Goku acknowledged, looking calm and even thoughtful as looked at the sky. Piccolo wasn't one hundred percent sure, many things about Saiyan's and Earthlings still confused him to no end, but he seemed to feel a sense of ease from his old friend.

Eventually, Goku rose back to his feet, looking like he'd just finished his massive meal from Chi-Chi all over again. "We should get back to training, can't win without me nailing this move, after all."

"I agree."

Goku almost turned around to enter the necessary stance before looking back to Piccolo and grinning like an idiot. "You know, I'm real glad you and I became friends."

Piccolo smirked back. "As am I Son, as am I."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another change I forgot to name last time is the gang being aware of the Pilaf gang being kids, they were the ones to steal the DBs in Yamcha & Ox-King Save the World, after all. So, no Pilaf gang hanging around Capsule Corp in my version.
> 
> Goku's apparent refusal to use KK always bugged me in the show, so I decided to root it in something character specific. I can very easily see even a simple guy like Goku get freaked by an illness that'd hit him where he hurts most: his fighting ability. It was a cool concept that sadly wasn't done for more than just a little slice of life episode and I felt Piccolo was an appropriate choice to help nudge him along to a resolution.


	3. Achieving New Heights!

**8 Hours Until Departure, The Room of Spirit and Time**

The blast of searing heat was the first thing to welcome Gohan back into the Room for the first time in well over ten years. The numbingly white and vacant dimension burned like something on the surface of the sun with torrents of fire spewing dozens of feet into the air right.

The second thing to greet him was the explosions frequently blasting from on high and smashing into the fire streams, temporarily blowing them away wherever the ki struck.

Louder then the fire or the blast impacts was the last thing to greet Gohan, Vegeta's usual growl shouting from somewhere high above ground level. "About time you showed up boy! Get up here!"

Walking up to the very edge of the inner entrance, Gohan felt the blast impact and heat more strongly than ever, fighting the urge to try and shield himself with his arm. He searched for Vegeta's ki and couldn't detect it at all while the fire pillars made it almost impossible to see anything more than a foot ahead of him.

The only giveaway for Vegeta's location was a peculiar blue light shaped like him shining like a star in the sky. Dropping off the bag of cut up Senzu onto a nearby table, Gohan took a deep breath and took flight towards the Saiyan Prince. As he approached, the blue aura glowed even more brilliantly, nearly blinding him before vanishing entirely, leaving nothing but plain old Vegeta waiting for him with his usual scowl and crossed arms.

"Took you long enough," He growled, tapping his upper arm impatiently. Gohan was keenly aware of Vegeta's intense gaze looking him over from head to toe to gauge his strength. "You seem to have restored your old power, at least."

_And only that, more or less,_ Gohan thought sourly, trying to keep it from showing on his face. Elder Kaioshin warned him of hitting one's limits, and through the ritual, thankfully, passed much faster than last time. It wasn't anything close to what he'd need to help everyone. He hoped four months would be enough to bridge this gap. If anyone could help him, it was probably as someone as relentless as Vegeta.

"Well let's get on with it," The Saiyan Prince sighed, hovering a few feet away from Gohan. Snapping his body into a fighting stance, Vegeta transformed into a Super Saiyan half a second before throwing his first punch. Gohan only narrowly managed to avoid it and the ensuing barrage kept him firmly on the defensive.

Gohan couldn't help but marvel at how strong Vegeta had become. Just a few years ago no one but Gotenks was even close to matching him. Now, Vegeta was his equal, if not slightly better, as a regular Super Saiyan. The idea he had two more in reserve amazed and worried Gohan in equal measure.

As he kept blocking and dodging, straining himself to make his body remember old sequences and movements, the worry started to win out. Even with his full power back, Gohan felt just as clumsy as he did against Dabra. Power couldn't compensate for rusty skill, not in a close fight like this.

"This is more pathetic than I ever dared to imagine!" Vegeta shouted louder than the impact of his connecting blows and the spewing fire. "You can't even defend yourself without looking like a fool!"

Gohan couldn't help but agree, and so decided to take the initiative. Feigning defensive laps by purposefully allowing a punch to land, he withstood the force of the blow then rammed his foot into Vegeta's gut. It was strong enough to give him an opening or two.

With a mighty shout and burst of power, Gohan glowed a brilliant white, carving through the fire spirals shooting around them with his offensive. His attacks felt just as clumsy as the rest of him, missing their marks to varying degrees, being too fast or too slow. But at least Vegeta wasn't smashing into him anymore.

Indeed, the Saiyan Prince seemed to take the attacks in stride, deftly intercepting them and successfully repaying Gohan for every single punch to meet its mark. Eventually, the two of them broke off, flying across the sky, through and above the burning room around, attacking one another from all possible directions with physical or ki attacks.

By the time the day was over, the fire suddenly vanished, leaving the room back to its neutral, empty appearance. Gohan struggled to stay on his feet, the dozens of bruises and fatigue had taken their toll on him. Vegeta didn't seem winded at all, but thankfully, less angry then at the start of their training.

"Not as awful as I first thought," He admitted reluctantly, Gohan noted. "Still, Trunks was better than this when he first arrived."

Gohan thought he misheard, but then like a sleepy man struck by cold water, all his fatigue and injuries seemed to vanish. "B-but, how?!"

"Similar to you, he trained with the Kaioshin to fight Majin Boo, though he lacks this unique ability of yours to release power without transforming. But most importantly," Vegeta's tone grew a touch sterner. "He learned from his mistakes and trained properly."

"Even still, to become so strong without the ritual or God forms,..."

"There are many ways to power, and Trunks discovered one of his own," A note of pride was in his voice now. "Similar to you and Kakarot, he focused on perfecting the power of Super Saiyan, then attaining Super Saiyan 2. But unlike Kakarot, he didn't try to find something else above that. Instead, he spent most of his time improving the first two transformations, making his body familiar with their power and eventually, raising their strength well beyond anything the rest of us have accomplished. Bulma, the... future one created a sort of chamber to emulate this place to help push him along."

"I see,..." Gohan finally knelt, letting his mind contemplate the implications of all this. Trunks couldn't match Black even when the body snatches was weaker, despite being stronger than Gohan himself right at this moment! Now, Trunks and Black were both so much stronger.

And he felt so confident that he could help just a few hours ago...

"Don't start losing your edge again!" Vegeta barked, pointing an accusing finger at him. "If you want to go feel sorry for yourself leave this instant before I toss you out! I came here to train, so either pull your weight or leave. I'll not suffer your presence here otherwise!"

For a moment, Gohan seriously considered doing so, feeling the bruises, the scorching fire and the absence of Videl and Pan viscerally now. But he quickly shot this down, he couldn't back out, Trunks and the entire future could very well depend on him helping this time. Everything and everyone there could die if he didn't help.

So, Gohan pushed all this aside and brought himself back to his full height. "I'm staying."

Vegeta just looked back at him, probably looking for any sense of insecurity or worse, insincerity in Gohan's demeanor. The half-Saiyan could have sworn he saw his lip quirk upward before he powered down.

"Good, we'll resume tomorrow."

"Huh?" Gohan couldn't help but stare at him. "You-you're gonna rest?"

"Of course! I've been training all day well enough, a few hours of rest is what we both need to let our bodies rest."

"That sounds like something my dad would say."

Vegeta's eyes flashed darkly at him, Gohan took half a step back as he felt a cold sweat suddenly breakout. "Yes," He slowly admitted, scowling. "Trunks told me our old method of constantly forcing ourselves was the reason we fell behind last time. He suggested doing things your way. Training harshly then resting peacefully."

"I mean, the results kind of speak for themselves,..." Gohan hesitantly replied, reconsidering his decision to stay there.

"We'll see," Vegeta started walking towards the door and purposefully butted into him with his shoulder. "Needless to say, we won't speak of this to anyone else. Will we?" He very pointedly looked back at Gohan.

"D-definitely n-not!" Gohan stammered, nodding his assent.

The next few days fell into this routine, with Gohan and Vegeta spending most of the time honing Gohan's pure martial arts skills back to perfection then sleeping seven to eight hours every night. The scholar worried the process of dusting himself off would take longer, but Vegeta, pridefully, of course, touted this as another Saiyan advantage.

He said that a Saiyan's body was built for combat unlike any other and that it always remembered where and how to punch, kick, duck, roll, jump, and all the various fighting sequences combining these movements. Even if the mind using that body was out of shape, the body helped quicken the process of syncing them back together.

This natural fighting memory was so powerful, Black, who stole his father's body, was able to perfectly mimic his father's moves despite being a completely different person with none of Goku's training and battles under his belt.

Gohan was able to find out more about recent events during their short breaks in sparring. What this Goku Black was like, what he wanted, about Zamasu and the state of the future. Immediately, Black's purported arrogance and faux sophistication reminded Gohan of Freeza, Zamasu was much the same. From Kibito, he knew the Gods didn't necessarily like humans, but he never thought one of them would go this far.

Vegeta spoke of these two easily enough, talking about the future is where Gohan noted his hesitation and reluctance. He became suddenly angrier, raising his voice and talked in more clipped sentences. The once or twice he mentioned the Bulma of the future is when he even sounded just a bit sad, though Gohan knew his head would come off if I pointed any of this out.

Instead, he silently sympathized with him, knowing he'd feel the same way if in some future reality Pan was fighting for her survival and Vide was... gone.,

Once the rust was off, Gohan noted the immediate changes to his moves. His punches were strong and confident, his kicks didn't almost make him tumble to the ground anymore, and when he blocked, his stance was as firm as Katchin. Vegeta acknowledged this small progress with a nod, telling him that the real training would proceed now that he was as up to speed as he could be.

Vegeta also, to Gohan's confusion, gave a limitation on him: not to use his ki sensing but rely on his natural senses of sight, smell,... His natural fighting instincts. When asked why, the Saiyan Prince just said it was necessary for the last part of their training, assuming Gohan managed to get that far before they left.

That's how the next month passed.

* * *

**6 Hours Until Departure**

The situation was remarkably reversed, Gohan noticed, as he and Vegeta fought each other in the last portion of what Gohan dubbed Phase 2 of their training. The phase where Gohan was able to push past Vegeta's Super Saiyan power and was now having the edge against his Super Saiyan 2 self.

For every blow Vegeta himself managed to land, Gohan was the one responding with three or four blows of his own. The Prince was constantly pushed back in this exchange of blows, trying and failing to hold his ground and muster a purely physical offensive.

Gohan even noted the apparent fatigue Vegeta was trying to hold back, he could notice the raggedness of his breathing and the slowing down of his body. Small details he'd been able to see now that he fought without sensing ki.

That was a particularly grueling process, responsible for taking up almost 15 days worth of their time just for him to get the hang of. It felt like he was fighting blind for several sessions on end, or with a broken arm and leg. Gohan even thought of voicing the idea that they drop this but he knew Vegeta wouldn't budge. So Gohan persisted, and his Saiyan body simply got used to the change.

With his feet, he could feel the ground shake under Vegeta's heel when he took off into the sky, Gohan could know where he was just by listening to the direction of where his flight cut through the air. When they fought man to man, he noticed chinks in his attacks or defense to gain an edge.

One of them was presented to him now, he noticed Vegeta twist his body for an uppercut, pulling his dominant right and arm back. Except now, Vegeta's fatigue or failing focus made him pull his leg too far, leaving him exposed to an attack from below. Deftly avoiding the uppercut, Gohan struck Vegeta's other leg and swiped it right from under him.

For a second, the Prince was in the air until Gohan's fist connect to his left cheek and smashed him face first into the cold ground of the Room. The impact felt especially powerful thanks to Gohan's focused regular senses when the ground shook, he swore he could feel his bones quiver as well.

But Vegeta wasn't done, with a grunt he decided to forgo martial combat and took off into the air before Gohan could shoot him down or chase him, dozens of blasts were already on him. But not just from one direction, Vegeta flew all over in random directions to maximize his barrage of ki attacks destructive potential.

Gohan soon found himself pinned to one location but not overwhelmed, he was able to block or dodge the attacks well enough. As he stood there doing so, he noticed the trajectory of Vegeta's attacks, how they were all aimed approximately at his chest. The biggest target to hit and none of them smashed against the ground.

The scholar recalled a hunting trip he took with his father in law where Mister Satan talked his ear off about guns and how they worked. One particular detail of that trip sprang to mind, how marksmen were always taught to focus on body shots, specifically for the chest. Everything else was too small and difficult to hit, the chest? It was always a much surer thing.

Mentally thanking his father in law, Gohan decided to take advantage of Vegeta's mark and just as a new barrage of blasts came at him, he purposefully fell on his back. The blasts collided with one another, releasing a brilliant explosion less than half a foot away from Gohan himself.

As he hoped it would happen, Vegeta took the mass of explosions as a sign of success and rushed into the smoke cloud to capitalize on it. When the flying kick connected with nothing at all, Gohan was on him instantly. With a mighty shout, he roared the name of his attack, "Masenko!" and watched as the Prince was devoured and launched over a dozen feet away bit it, suffering the full brunt of the impact and ensuing explosion.

Re-entering his fighting stance, Gohan prepared himself for another attack, but as he focused on the ground beneath him, he didn't feel Vegeta take off or even walk at all. Cautiously, Gohan walked up to the spot where the smoke of his Masenko still rosed and halted when he felt Vegeta stomp back on his feet.

With a wave of his hand, the Prince blew aside the smoke and only then did Gohan notice the multitudes of scrapes and wounds all over him. Even Bulma's incredibly durable armor looked cracked and broken in several places- But, despite panting and looking like he was about to keel over, Vegeta was smiling at him.

"Impressive... boy..." He panted out and depowered from Super Saiyan 2. "I didn't expect a trick like that..."

Allowing himself to relax, Gohan felt a familiar embarrassment creep up to him at the praise. "Gee, thanks, Vegeta!"

"Now!" He shouted, no longer smiling. "Get me a piece of those Senzu you cut up, now that you've proven yourself capable, it's time for the real training to begin!"

Nodding, Gohan flew back to the entrance, noting his own lack of fatigue despite several cuts and bruises too. The bag sat on the table and he gingerly removed half of a Senzu bean out. Luckily, he told Yajirobe to divide the few that were left into bits and pieces, meaning they could fix themselves up here, or against Black should the need arise, even if the full healing effect was diminished.

"Now then," Vegeta cracked the bones of his neck both ways in preparation. "We let get down to business."

For an instant, his usually black eyes flashed blue half a second before an aura, the same one he noticed a month earlier from a distance enveloped him from head to toe. It looked thicker than the usual Super Saiyan aura, more all-consuming. The flames burned most blue on the edges while closer to Vegeta himself, it looked white with sparks of gold particles faintly flowing around.

"This is a Super Saiyan with the power of a Super Saiyan God," Vegeta explained. "But for brevity sake, we call it Super Saiyan Blue."

Gohan didn't notice much if any change in Vegeta's physique besides his hair and eyes turning the forms color. What he did notice on further inspection is how he couldn't detect his energy at all anymore. Despite the fact Vegeta was standing right there in front of him, if one relied solely on their ki sensing, they'd probably think Vegeta had just vanished into thin air.

"That lack of feeling is precisely why I instructed you to fight without relying on ki sensing, "Vegeta noticed the inspection and explained further. "When your father and I reached a certain point in our training with Whis to attain this form, we temporarily lost the ability to feel ourselves or our opponents, forcing us to clumsily waste time on training without sensing before we could properly cultivate the God ki inside us."

"Cultivate it? I thought you and dad got it from those rituals?"

"Nothing but a shortcut," Vegeta snorted with contempt. "A hodgepodge of other people's energy put into ourselves. This form is one's innate God ki nurtured and fully realized through a transformation."

Gohan supposed that made sense when they performed the ritual at his dad and Vegeta's insistence some time ago, Gohan felt something strange but powerful well up inside of him before vanishing inside the other two Saiyan's. He hadn't felt it since.

"But won't I need to sense to get this power?"

"Your Saiyan body will do the work for you. Remember what I said earlier, Saiyan bodies are special, they learn, they react and they remember. Remembering and feeling the sensations has helped us out before. I remembered the feel of your father's strength and Trunks' when they demonstrated Super Saiyan to me for the first time. Goten and Trunks remembered the feel of Kakarot's Super Saiyan 2 and 3 power and purposefully chose to pursue it inside their own energies."

"As you and I do battle, your body will learn from the sensations and gradually, you will learn to tap into the same power you must've felt during the Super Saiyan God ritual and mature it. Although," Vegeta crossed his arms. "I don't know how it will work for you since you've grown past the need to transform. Perhaps you'll simply stay like this or perhaps you'll attain that form Trunks did."

"Yeah, I remember you mentioning something like that," Gohan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I wondered how he could do it without practicing with Whis."

"Him becoming as powerful as he was certainly helped matters and our own sparring sessions were down with me exclusively in this form. Though, his isn't entirely like me. The power of Blue is calming but Trunks attained his own version through raw anger the likes of which I haven't seen since your childhood days."

Gohan's blushed in embarrassment again at being reminded of that but quickly corrected himself. "I hope I can pull off learning this, I know it took you and dad a while to get this far and we've only got three months left."

"You're already stronger now than we were when we started training and your non-reliance on ki sense will save us at least two or three weeks that would've otherwise been wasted. But enough talk!" He suddenly barked, entering a fighting stance. "Now is the time to fight, harder than ever, and I expect you to show ten times the progress you've achieved thus far! Understood?!"

Responding by entering his own stance, Gohan allowed his own white aura to flare to life and without a hint of hesitation or worry nodded his assent. Vegeta smirked and the two began the first of many, many battles for the months to come. All dozens of times more fierce than all the one's proceeding them...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Lots of exposition and working around Super's... iffiness when it comes to powers and abilities but honestly, this is probably my favorite chapter so far. Hopefully the flow of events I felt while writing is present for you guys, the readers.
> 
> Next chapter, you can expect us going back to Piccolo and Goku with some other characters getting POVs. Unfortunately, due to college, work and social life related stuff, I probably won't get said chapter done until Friday. MAYBE tomorrow but that's highly unlikely.


	4. The Kaio-Ken Problem

**6 Hours Until Departure, Capsule Corp HQ**

"MMMAAAFFFUUUBBBAAA!"

The green vortex enveloped the area between Goku and the robot, the latter's form instantly stretching, contorting then becoming part of the twisting energies. With the practiced ease of a longtime master, he forced the contorted target to pass alongside the vortex' currents. With a thrust of his outstretched hands, Goku completed the technique, transforming the robot into a blob of blue light and forced it into the jar, sealing the invention away.

Piccolo knew Goku would probably learn the Mafuba within 12-hour limit, but observing him do it in half the time? When it took Piccolo weeks to do the same and create a counter to it all those years ago? He couldn't help but smirk, impressed at his old friends progress.

"Yes! I did it!" Goku shouted, throwing a fist into the air.

"So you have, but remember, the stronger your target is, the more power you'll use to seal them away. If you intend to fight Black afterward, I suggest widening the gap between yourself and Zamasu."

"Zamasu's a tough one, but Super Saiyan Blue should help me get the job done."

He didn't doubt that. The fight against Hit proved it was a formidable transformation even if Piccolo was unable to sense its power. At least not fully.

"Regardless, I've nothing more to teach you concerning the Mafuba, all that's left for you is to practice if you so wish."

"Later, but right now, could you help me with the Kaio-Ken?"

Piccolo raised an eyebrow. "I thought you weren't scared of using it anymore."

"Well, it's not freaking me out as much, if that's what you mean," Goku grew a shade more serious. "And honestly, as much as a part of me wants to see what Black's body can do, making him stronger and getting us all killed isn't what I want."

_I haven't seen this side of him in a long time,_ Piccolo noted with some surprise.  _Makes me wonder if he feels remorseful for letting Black get away the first time._

"But, having the Kaio-Ken as a back up in case things don't go our way wouldn't be a bad idea. So long as I finish Black off fast enough with it, he shouldn't get the chance to power up from me again."

Piccolo noted how it hadn't crossed Goku's mind to try and seal Black away as well. He considered bringing the point up but thought better of it, he could practically hear the response already.

_"Well, I don't want to make it too easy either!"_

He didn't know if he should laugh or shake his head in disbelief.  _Leave it to the Saiyan race to cut it close even when they're trying to be responsible._

"I think my problem is ki control," Goku continued. "My body is strong enough to force the Kaio-Ken through Blue, but my control over that power isn't there yet. I figure you could help a lot with that!"

"How so?"

"Whadda ya mean, how so?" For a second, Goku looked incredulous. "Your fight with Frost! All the crazy stuff you were able to pull off while charging the Makankōsappō! Your ki control was insane through the whole thing! I couldn't even teleport with the Kamehameha without almost blowing myself up!"

Piccolo could relate to that feeling very well. Creating then perfecting the Makankōsappō was a strenuous process to put it very mildly. Any fool can create balls and blasts to bruise or blow up. To focus one's power into a singular point capable of cutting through anything or anyone was something else. He felt genuine pride for refining his skill with such a stressful technique to the level he showcased against Frost, even if he ultimately lost the battle.

"Perhaps I can help you out," He noticed Goku's smile widen and made it a point to curb his enthusiasm. "But I'm not sure how much. Given our short amount of time left, it's possible it doesn't end up mattering at all."

"Couldn't we go join Gohan and Vegeta in the Room of Spirit and Time?"

"No. The reason I've perfected the Makankōsappō as well as I have comes from intense mental preparation through meditation and image training. Neither of which we can successfully do with the two of them blowing up everything around us. Never how distracted you'd be to go in and join them."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Goku sheepishly chuckled at the remark. "But couldn't we twist time around? I remember pulling off something like that when I was dead."

"Is that why you were almost late for the 25th Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament? But yes, it is possible. I've done so myself on several occasions."

"Vegeta and Gohan are gonna come here anyway, so if we get too caught up, they'll bonk us over the heads a little!"

A crude solution but an effective one. There was another concern he found far more potentially troublesome. One he wouldn't hesitate to voice, but Goku had already shown a lack of confidence concerning the matter of the Kaio-Ken and Super Saiyan Blue. He didn't want this to hamper his potential progress unnecessarily. He would wait and see where things stood first.

"Then let's not waste any more time and get started," The Namekian sat on the grass crisscrossing his fight alongside Goku sitting a few feet opposite of him. The two warriors exhaled then closed their eyes, aligning their energies as Earthlings would two computers. As their ki connected, so too did their spirits and most importantly, minds.

Piccolo took a slight initiative with this, creating a mental landscape resembling Yunzabit Heights, though lacking the areas usual gloomy and frosty weather conditions. The projections of himself and Goku stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking miles upon miles of other cliffs and salty waters below.

"First things first, I want to get a sense for your Kaio-Ken under normal conditions. It's been too long since I've felt it on Namek and I'd rather not base your training on decades-old memories."

"Sure thing!" Goku nodded and with a deliberately slow build up, tensed his entire body as a powerful, red surge of energy gradually built up and burst forth from him. Piccolo noted how the technique forcibly multiplied every facet of his body. But he needed much more.

"Alright, now show me the tenth and twentieth levels."

The forced drawing out of power magnified intensely and with their energies more in-tune, Piccolo profoundly felt the drawing out of ki. It seemed as though all of Goku was burning, every single cell in his body simultaneously increasing his power to a level well beyond what they naturally should allow. Goku himself seemed fairly comfortable being an eye in a hurricane of such magnitude.

Most importantly, he noted an important and optimistic similarity between the Kaio-Ken and the Makankōsappō. But first, he needed to try and get a feel for the other half of Goku's strongest form, for now.

"Alright, that's enough. Now, I want you to show me Super Saiyan Blue."

"You got it!" The red hurricane of power evaporated to nothing, replaced by an eerie calm as Goku's body became devoured by a brilliant blue, eventually cracking like a shell all around him, revealing the Super Saiyan with the power of a God. The pinnacle of Saiyan transformations, supposedly increasing one's power exponentially while also allowing complete calm and control over one's power.

Piccolo barely felt any of it.

As he tried to perceive the energies emanating from the Saiyan, all he could feel was less than a flicker. The part of him that was once the God of Earth allowed him a very small peek into the energies fueling this transformation. But it wasn't anywhere near enough, it was like a dream you could barely remember or understand. This is precisely what he was worried about going in and his fears were unfortunately confirmed.

However, he wasn't one to give up quite so easily. If he couldn't understand this Super Saiyan Blue, he would find a comparable thing to overcome this particular hurdle. One came to mind, a particular combination he recalled Elder Kaioshin tout as impossible to execute with a living body. But perhaps inside the mindscape where the mind removed certain dangers from the body, it could just work.

"Transform into a regular Super Saiyan now," Goku looked at him, confused. "Trust me, there's a good reason for it."

"Uhh, sure," Instantly, the invisible power of Blue was replaced by the familiar sensation of a Super Saiyan's strength. It wasn't the forced manipulations of Kaio-Ken, but a natural enhancement which didn't seem to bother Goku's body in the least.

"Now, use the Kaio-Ken alongside it."

Goku looked confused again, then momentarily but shrewdly bored his eyes into Piccolo's. "Sure."

To his surprise, Goku managed to pull it off, even if it looked incredibly painful for him to do so. The calm, natural feeling of Super Saiyan was wholly devoured by Kaio-Ken's forced exertion of power. Even inside this mental landscape, Goku's body seemed to bulge with various veins sticking out unnaturally throughout his body and his pupils seemed to vanish. Without Piccolo's urging, he turned the Kaio-Ken off.

He sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Do you get how Kaio-Ken works with Blue now?"

_Should've known you'd see through this, at least,_ Piccolo noted. "That depends on what you can tell me, is it a close comparison?"

"Well, sort of. It doesn't feel anywhere near as painful as this did. Not until after I turned everything off, at least."

"Is that why you kept it activated it? I had wondered about that since the technique seems to function better in bursts."

"More or less, it took so long just to combine Blue with Kaio-Ken I didn't know if I could drop in and out of it without burning myself out completely."

"How strong exactly is Blue? How does it feel to use?" Piccolo asked outright, there was no point in hiding the fact he couldn't sense the power of the form anymore. Still, Goku's apparent calm about it was encouraging.

"Imagine something that's... calmer than I am now but like hundreds of times stronger than it."

Piccolo recalled the increases of Goku's other Super Saiyan forms for reference than he tried to perceive something even greater than that. It was when he tried to imagine forcibly increasing one's power on such a hypothetical level, that he felt himself grow a bit dizzy and more than a little terrified.

_Good grief Goku, i_ _t's a miracle you haven't crippled yourself already..._

He did his best to keep that particular thing from showing anywhere or slipping past his diminished mental defenses. Instead, Piccolo steeled himself for his part in the demonstration phase.

* * *

Goku knew something was up when Piccolo asked him to use Kaio-Ken with regular old Super Saiyan. It didn't make him feel any better when he admitted it. He hoped Kami would help out, where he was inside Piccolo but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. What made it even worse is he should've been excited. Training with a handicap should've made him happy. But while Piccolo started charging his Light of Death, he couldn't squash a bad feeling in his gut.

A feeling he only felt when Freeza survived his Genki-Dama or when it looked like Cell was gonna kill everyone.

"Pay attention now, focus on the oscillation of ki throughout my body and remember it well."

Goku nodded, mostly not distracted anymore. He noticed Piccolo power growing as the attack showed up just inches away from his face, getting bigger and bigger every second. Soon he couldn't even see Piccolo's face anymore. What he could feel was very familiar to the Kaio-Ken.

Every inch of Piccolo was getting more and more ki drained out of it, all of it sent to his forehead where his fingers were. That spot seemed like it might explode any second, but Piccolo managed to perfectly split his attention between gathering power and then sending it to his fingers. Then he started practicing.

Goku stood in awe at how his friend was able to keep focusing his ki and fire off small blasts, how he was able to move around and fly pretty easily even though his head felt like it was gonna cave in on itself. He was really impressed when Piccolo managed to use the  _Shishin no Ken_ , have an actual sparring match against three copies of himself and win it all without ever losing focus on the Makankōsappō or even firing it.

And when he powered down, all the energy went back inside him and it felt like he hadn't done anything at all. When the feeling started to go away, Goku didn't feel afraid, but not relieved either. He could definitely learn from Piccolo here, but something told him it wouldn't totally fix the Kaio-Ken problem. He'd have to do something else...

* * *

_What is he thinking?_ Piccolo wondered as Goku just stood there, staring into his palm and occasionally clenching it into a fist with an unreadable expression on his face. He didn't seem disheartened, but neither was he enthusiastic. He couldn't be described as looking distant, but neither would focus fit either.  _Earthling's and Saiyan's, I really don't get you sometimes._

"What is it?" He decided to ask, not enjoying the silence for once. Goku didn't respond immediately but kept up his palm starring act until decidedly closing it into a fist. Then he smiled and that shrewd look in his eyes was back, along with a knowing smile.

"I think I've figured out how to make this work!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly thought this chapter would last longer as it was supposed to encompass the whole training but that would've given away the surprise of Goku's solution to the Kaio-Ken Blue problem. Chapter wise, this is the halfway point of the story with the next one sending the cast into the future again.


	5. Back to the Future!

**15 Minutes Until Departure, The Lookout**

The booming explosion cut like a knife into Dende's skull, if it wasn't for the blast of air knocking him on his back, he knew the splitting noise alone would have. Not that he could afford to, poor Mister Popo was much closer to the edge and was clumsily trying to keep from falling off. The two were observing Goku and Piccolo's training at Capsule Corp headquarters, Dende in-particular noticed the flare of God ki from the Saiyan, specifically how it oddly spiked and contracted in on itself without rhyme or reason.

They never saw the exploding Room of Spirit and Time behind them coming.

"H-Help me Dende!" He cried out, awkwardly fumbling his massive frame along the edge.

The young Namekian tried to do just that, using Kami's old cane for support but instead just smashed his jaw against the marble floor, making it shake again. Just enough to break Popo's already dicey balance and send him plummeting over the edge. But before Dende could stretch out his arms to save his attendant, another force came rushing out of the smoke, snatching Popo out of the air and gently putting him next to Dende.

"Are you guys okay?!" Dende immediately recognized Gohan's remorseful voice cut through the present buzzing in his ears. "I swear we had no idea that was going to happen! I'm really sorry!"

Though their rescuer looked beaten and worn thanks to the myriad of bruises and cuts from head to toe, Dende felt a great power coming off of Gohan. Godly ki was shining brightly through him, calmer even then perhaps Goku and Vegeta's transformed states. The Saiyan Prince himself emerged from the smoking crater where the Room was once, looking just as beaten down as Gohan but radiating no less calm or power.

"Quit wasting time, boy! They're fine, we've more important matters to deal with than their hurt feelings!"

"Excuse me!" Mister Popo indignantly huffed, releasing himself from Gohan's grasp and walking up to Vegeta, quite deliberately poking into his chest piece. "But the only one who shall hurt is you, Prince Vegeta!"

Gohan and Dende stared blankly at the sight of the attendant stand up to Vegeta, equally afraid for Mister Popo's well being and morbidly curious to see how this will go. Vegeta raised an eyebrow before bursting out into laughter. Mister Popo took it in stride, waiting until Vegeta recomposed himself before continuing.

"I would not laugh, Prince Vegeta, I do not make idle threats."

"And how would you go about punishing me if I didn't take you seriously?"

Mister Popo smirked. "Quite easily, by not ever repairing the Room of Spirit and Time for your callous behavior towards us and our property."

Vegeta's mirth instantly vanished, transforming his cocky grin into a look as cold as steel. "You wouldn't dare."

Popo's smirk widened into a very pleased smile. "Oh, I would. For though you are still arrogant and callous, you will not hurt or kill me as you might have before. You are a changed man, Prince Vegeta. As such, you have nothing to threaten me with. I, however, have control over your training in the palms of my hands."

Dende finally got his body under control and promptly ran up to the two of them as they stared each other down. "I'm sorry Mister Popo will happily fix it if you just apologized, Vegeta. Right?" He shot a pleading look at his attendant who seemed to very intentionally ignore it.

"Come on, Vegeta," Gohan walked up to the Prince's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We messed up, there's no point in being stubborn about it. Besides, like you said, we're on a tight schedule."

Dende expected Vegeta to slap the hand aside or to growl in protest, instead, he sent the steely glance at Gohan who seemed unfazed by it entirely. A moment later, his bleeding shoulders sagged as he sighed. "Very well," He admitted with extreme reluctantly oozing from his voice. "I apologize for destroying the Room, now, can you fix our clothing so we can get on our way?"

Mister Popo glanced at Dende then and too, nodded. "Apology accepted, though, I will keep my promise if this should happen again."

"Duly noted, now fix us so we can be on our way."

With a simple finger point, Dende completely fixed Vegeta's combat armor to mint condition as the Prince eat half of a Senzu Bean to repair his damage. He was about to fix up Gohan's tracksuit when he stopped him.

"Actually, could you give me the Great Saiyaman suit? Minus the helmet and cape, oh and could you give me dads symbol where the heart is?"

"Are we going to a battle or a circus!?" Vegeta's shout cut into Dende's skull almost as much as the explosion just did. Once again, he noticed how unusually unfazed Gohan was to the Prince's temper. It seemed being stuck with him for months on end must've dulled him to the outbursts.

"Sure, I can do that, Gohan." The tattered green tracksuit morphed into the Great Saiyaman outfit, with a few of the requested bells and whistles added or removed.

"Awesome! Thanks, buddy!" He patted Dende on the back, grinning like his father before slowly hovering off the ground. Vegeta had blasted off quite forcefully a moment ago. "Thanks for everything! I promise Vegeta and I'll be back in no time to help you guys fix the Room!"

With that, he too was gone, soaring across the sky with enough force to break the sound barrier. As Dende observed the two warriors. he could more acutely feel their new powers more than ever. He secretly hoped it would be enough for the horrible danger which awaited them in the future...

* * *

**Capsule Corp HQ**

It felt odd to see the blue sky hanging overhead, the green fields beneath him and the brush of actual air hit him in the face as he and Vegeta soared towards his home at Capsule Corp. Gohan only realized how much he missed seeing a world that wasn't all white all the time, when it wasn't on fire or freezing, now when he was back at Earth proper.

His intense training with Vegeta certainly kept his mind occupied on the crisis at hand. It didn't, however, manage to keep him from missing two people very, very much. He had half a mind to ask Vegeta for a slight detour to visit them. But even as accustomed to the Prince's shouts as he was now, it didn't feel right to ask.

"You can call them when we arrive," Vegeta shouted louder than the wind blowing into them. "But only for a minute, understand?"

Gohan stared at him, completely stunned. Was he that obvious? Was it so easy to read he was missing his wife and daughter? Regardless, he shouted his thanks to Vegeta who expectedly ignored it and just sped up. In no time at all, they'd reached the backyard of Capsule Corp where his father, Bulma, Trunks, and Piccolo were waiting for them. Next, to them, the time machine stood out prominently, reminding Gohan of the time they'd discovered it all those years ago.

"Hey, guys!" His dad shouted and waved at them, being the first to greet them when they touched down. "How'd the training go?"

"You'll see when we beat Black into a bloody pulp," Vegeta smirked, walking past his father and quite deliberately pushing him aside with his shoulder towards Bulma. Gohan decided for a more diplomatic approach.

"Pretty well I'd say, I mean, I don't know if I'm as strong as you guys or Trunks,..."

"Don't be so hard on yourself! I can tell you're crazy strong now! Black and Zamasu won't know what hit them!"

"Thanks, dad, uh, could I use your phone for a minute?"

"I don't know if I charged it but," He fumbled inside his gi pockets but thankfully, managed to find it. Gohan felt immense relief when he saw it had the power to spare too. "Here, just don't take long, we're leaving any minute now!"

"I won't, I promise!" Snatching the phone away, Gohan bowed to his father and promptly blasted off to the other side of Capsule Corp HQ, anxiously checking to see if anyone was around. When all seemed clear, he dialed the number, when she answered, he couldn't keep a stupid grin off his face.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Videl!"

"Gohan! You're back! Are you okay? Vegeta didn't drive you crazy, did he?"

"Just about," He chuckled, leaning against a nearby tree. "But he's not so bad when you get used to him and he's still a helluva fighter."

"Maybe, but I've always thought someone else was a little better."

"Just a little?" He matched her teasing tone.

"I didn't want you to get a big head, dear. Bulma complains about her husbands enough as is."

"I know, I've seen them fight a couple of times. It's pretty scary stuff."

They both chuckled before falling silent. When Videl spoke up, it was with a fire she reserved for whenever she got a chance to train at her families dojo.

"Be careful out there, Gohan," She warned him. "Your mom's told me enough about this Black guy and Zamasu to know you're going someplace dangerous. Don't take any chances, alright? Help Trunks and come back, got it?"

"Got it," He steeled himself, intent on keeping this promise. Then he relaxed, just a bit. "I'll even show them a few of your moves. They won't see it coming."

"Damn right they won't," She huffed with pride. "Now, say goodbye to Pan and get your butt to the future."

He heard her shuffle the phone around until he heard a giggling baby girl on the other side. "Dada?"

"Hey, Pan! Yeah, it's me, Dada, sorry I haven't come home yet but I'll be back in a few hours! Can you wait for me just a little longer?"

"Dada!"

"Great! I'm glad to hear it! You be a good girl for mommy and I'll get you a nice toy, from the future! How does that sound?"

"Guba!"

Smiling from ear to ear, he told them both he loved them and ended the call. Feeling suddenly lighter and even more confident, Gohan joined the others.

* * *

"There, that should adequately prepare you for the sealing," Piccolo stated as he created the fifth jar with the accompanying seal on it for the Mafuba. "So, even if my happenstance the first one gets broken, you'll still be able to seal away Zamasu."

"Good thinking, Piccolo," Bulma tossed a capsule on the floor, revealing a sort of suitcase in which she gingerly put the jars inside. "That dirty old Hermit probably would've done half the work you have."

"Yeah, Roshi can get... distracted..." Goku chuckled the understatement of several centuries out.

"There!" Bulma put the sealing jar capsule into her pocket. "Just a minute or two more and the machine should be ready to go. Now, all I need is-"

"I got your stuff mom!" Trunks shouted from above, landing next to his mother. He held two devices, a backpack with two holes sticking out the back end and an armband which made Piccolo instinctively tense.

"What are you doing with those?" Piccolo asked her.

"Just a little extra insurance. The machine is already tight enough with the three of us in it but with Gohan coming too? Forget it, we'd crush one another. Luckily, I got this to help squeeze us all in."

"And the microband is there to help you run away when the trouble starts?" He deadpanned.

"Yup!"

"Hey, guys! Sorry if I took so long!" Gohan landed next to the two of them, tossing the phone to his dad. "We ready to go?"

"Just about," Bulma replied as she strapped the jetpack on.

"Alright, I guess there's nothing left to do but wait."

Piccolo said nothing as he observed his former student, much like he'd done with Goku in Super Saiyan Blue, he could sense the power of a God burning inside, if ever so faintly. The fact he was doing so without a transformation at all, just his regular self, proved that Vegeta had successfully gotten him to another level of strength. He couldn't help but feel pride in his accomplishment after only a few months of training.

He was about to comment when he, along with Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and Gohan sensed three strong powers suddenly appear out of nowhere in the backyard. The four momentarily tensed, expecting trouble until they realized they knew the new arrivals. It was Kaioshin, his assistant Kibito and a third Kai Piccolo had never seen before.

"Hello everyone!" Kaioshin greeted them as he and his two companions approached the assembled group. "I'm thankful we were able to catch up with you prior to your departure."

"It's good to see you again, my lord," Piccolo bowed deferentially to the higher deity. "Though, I'm not sure why you're here."

Kaioshin's somewhat reserved cheerfulness vanished, replaced by a grimness mirroring his attendant Kibitio and this new arrival. It was he who stepped forward and bowed to everyone present. "We are here at my behest, I am Gowasu... the master of Zamasu, I was... anyway. Through young Goku here, I have heard of my disciple's heinous crimes and wish to help you correct them in any way I can."

Cold silence was the initial reception to this, with the exception of a sympathetic looking Goku. Gohan was stunned while Vegeta and his family looked ready to give him a piece of their minds. Piccolo kept himself in-check and purposefully put himself between Gowasu and the three liable to chew him out.

"That's very kind of you, master Gowasu," Piccolo stated respectfully if a bit forced. "And I mean this with no disrespected, but I don't see how putting yourself at risk will accomplish much."

"That is why we want to arrive with you," Kaioshin cut in to try and deflate the sudden tension. "Master Gowasu, he wants to try and reason with Zamasu, to help him see the error of his ways and resolve this situation without further bloodshed. If it escalates, I know you all can protect him and Kibito."

"K-Kibito?" Gohan stammered out. "You're not going, Kaioshin?"

"No, he's not," Kibito spoke grimly, ignoring the sideways glance of his superior. "Zamasu has already caused considerable damage by destroying his fellow Kai, master Gowasu journeying to the past is already a great risk. But two Kaioshin linked with their respective Gods of Destruction being killed? Even under the protection of capable warriors such as yourselves? It is too much to risk, I am... more expendable."

"Giving that bastard Zamasu a chance at redemption is a waste of time," Vegeta barked out from the back. "He's already killed you twice, and I doubt he'll hesitate for a third time. You're better off staying here and letting us get rid of them both."

"Someone could say the same thing about you and Piccolo, Vegeta," Goku chimed in, earning quite a scowl from the Prince, Piccolo didn't care, he saw the point.

"Perhaps you're right," The Kai of Universe 10 seemed to sag. "But I still must try, for all his crimes, he is my apprentice, the closest thing to a child we Kai will ever have. I cannot give up on him, not until there is... heaven forbid, truly no chance of redeeming him and by extension, myself for not steering him away from this foolish pursuit."

Piccolo could sympathize with that notion, if he were in a position where Gohan or even Goten and Trunks went into some darker place, he wouldn't simply give up on them either. Even if their crimes rivaled or surpassed the likes of Boo or Freeza.

"Well, that's all well and good," Bulma awkwardly cut through the second silence. "But I'm not sure if we even have room for you inside the machine."

"That won't be an issue," Kaioshin said. "We Kai's have a more efficient method with our Time Rings. We shall simply follow you through the time stream, there is no need for you to worry about encumbering your device."

"I'm actually surprised Lord Beerus isn't here, you'd think he'd show up to at least see us off again," Goku commented.

"Lord Beerus was the one who brought to my attention how his killing of Zamasu failed to fix anything," Gowasu replied. "He seemed to think he could somehow prevent all of this from coming to pass, but, upon closer examination, I believe the young man using the Time Machine created another timeline when he arrived here to warn you of Black's existence. Explaining why instead of 4 Rings at my home, I suddenly have 5."

"Ugh, I hate time travel..." Little Trunks moaned from the table and Piccolo couldn't help but wholly agree with him for once.

"Ultimately, I am hoping to reason with Zamasu, both of them in-fact and use the Dragon Balls to correct the horrible loss of life across this parallel timeline."

_Assuming those two haven't done away with them,_ Piccolo thought darkly, remembering well how Goku and Vegeta spoke of their boasts concerning the annihilation of almost all life, at least, in the seventh universe. Could New Namek also have fallen to them? Could the Super Dragon Balls also have been inadvertently destroyed by them? He'd abandoned thinking much about this, focusing on helping Goku to the best of his ability.

_Didn't Trunks say almost all of mankind was wiped out, as well?_

A loud ping noise interrupted his contemplation of what he knew and Bulma rushed immediately to its side, grinning in satisfaction. "It's ready! We can go!"

"Then let's not waste any more time!" Vegeta was the first one inside, followed closely by Goku who held the suddenly shrunken Bulma gingerly in his hand.

Behind him, Kibito and Gowasu were facing one another with one arm outstretched, their ring fists bumping into one another. A swirl of energy surrounded them before the two of them vanished into nothingness.

"Well, I guess it's time to head out!" Gohan leaped into the machine as well, trying to awkwardly stuff himself inside it despite the lack of room.

Piccolo wasn't one for heartfelt goodbyes, so, while Trunks waved and shouted at them to smash and crush their enemies. Piccolo and Kaioshin silently stood a few feet away, observing the time machine hover in the air. His eyes meet Gohan's and with a simple, mutual exchange of nods and grins, the two wish each other well and goodbye, for now. A moment later, they too were gone.

"Well," Kaioshin spoke, looking somber at being left behind. "I suppose there's nothing left for us to do but wait, is there?"

"Actually," Piccolo turned to the small deity next to him, feeling that no, there was certainly something possibly very important for them left to do after all. "I was hoping to ask you for a favor."


	6. The Power of Humans

_T-this is the future...?!_ Gohan almost stammered out as he surveyed the familiar but twisted surroundings all around him. The blue sky he'd just flown across was black and grey with smoke and soot, completely blocking out the sun for what seemed like miles. Even from inside the cramped machine, he could feel the contaminated air ever so slightly burn inside his chest.

The city was just as much of a polar opposite, dozens of buildings he saw back home were destroyed entirely or on the verge of it. The ground matched the greys and blacks of the sky with nary a hint of healthy vegetation anywhere. Capsule Corp HQ was probably the most heartbreaking sight of them all. Somehow, it managed to defiantly stay more intact than the rest of the city, even with massive cuts and blown out pieces apparent all over it.

Gohan knew the future was in bad shape, but this was like a twisted mirror universe. He glanced at the others, noticing Vegeta try to look above it all, his clenched fists said otherwise. Father and Bulma looked mostly determined with hard expressions, but he detected just a hint of sadness in Bulma's eyes.

The machine touched down with Vegeta being the first one to hit the ground, followed by his father then Gohan himself. _The air's even more unbreathable than I thought._

To the right of their landing site, appeared Kibito and Gowasu, who, much like Gohan, took a minute to examine their surroundings, the results of Black and Zamasu's insane plan. The already grim Kibito scowled, while Gowasu sighed, shaking his head sadly.

"Such devastation," The old Kaioshin of Universe 10 breathed. "How could things have escalated like this?"

"The creation of utopia requires drastic measures, Gowasu!"

Everyone snapped their heads in the direction of the voice Gohan immediately recognized as his fathers. There, half a soccer fields away from the assembled group stood Zamasu and Black. The former looked strikingly like Gowasu, but younger, leaner and with a smirk, Gohan couldn't describe as anything else but arrogant.

Black smirked the same way, transforming his fathers usually friendly smile into a twisted perversion of itself. No, what genuinely scared Gohan, was the look in his eyes. There was a mad fire in them, something unquestionably insane and highly dangerous, making him look like some twisted combination of Freeza and his father. The pink hair and grey eyes only somehow managed to enhance the feeling of twisted wrongness oozing off him.

The body snatcher smirked and launched a small ki blast at the time machine. Everyone else wasn't on the level to notice it, but Gohan was, he didn't need to transform. Leaping into action, he slapped the blast away, positioning himself in a fighting stance directly in front of it.

"Sorry, but you'll have to get through me first!"

Black didn't seem deterred, if anything, his eyes and, smirk widened, sending a shiver down Gohan's spine he stonily kept from showing. It was like looking at the picture of a shark.

"And who might you be?" He spoke at a lower pitch than his father, calm and amused all at once. "No, wait, I can see a certain family resemblance between you and Goku. Am I correct?"

When no one answered him, Black chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes," He momentarily stopped to look Gohan over, licking his lips. "Whoever you are, your strength is obvious. This body wouldn't already crave battle with you if you were worthless like that other one I've already killed."

Gohan's teeth clenched at the mention of this monster killing his brother, wearing their dads face no less and now mocking them about it!

"Zamasu!" Gowasu shouted, stopping Gohan from attacking Black. "How dare you make light of the lives you've taken! The apprentice I trained knew better than to take pride in the deaths of others."

"The apprentice you trained was merely a denial of my true self, Gowasu," Black replied without a change in demeanor. "My true self-stands before you," He chuckled, patting his chest. "In a manner of speaking."

"And what has your true self-accomplished? This?" He extended his arms towards the ruined city around them. "The destruction of countless worlds? The genocide of their species?"

"A necessary cleansing," Zamasu, the one from the future, waved it away like it meant nothing. "So long as humans exist, peace would never arrive. Only through this can we attain true utopia."

"Zamasu..." Kibito spoke, his voice as grim as his expression. "I know your feelings concerning humans well, I too once shared them as we both know! But I have seen the error of my ways!" He suddenly spoke with conviction. "I have seen them accomplish wonders, correct our mistakes and defeat great evil! They are not all deserving of your scorn!"

"Ah Kibito," Black shook his head in what Gohan thought would be from sadness if not for his constant smirk. "To hear such gibberish from you is disappointing, especially since I wished to recruit you to my glorious mission, knowing you feel as I do."

An eerie silence fell on the conversation as Kibito tried to keep his shame in-check.

"I don't," Kibito steely replied. "My issues with humans were off ignorance and arrogance, in truth and I have discarded both long ago."

"And it is not too late for you as well!" Gowasu urged, taking a few steps forward and extending a pleading hand towards the two Zamasu's. "There is still time to redeem yourself! Let us gather the Dragon Balls! Let us fix the wrongs we've committed in this timeline and go before Lord Zeno!"

The pleading in Gowasu's voice was almost palpable, and the look of a sad, old man at the end of his ropes only tugged at Gohan's heartstrings even more. Black shattered through it all with another grating chuckle.

"The Dragon Balls are gone, we made sure to get rid of them to ensure our plan stayed permanent."

Gowasu stared at his apprentice, looking as if he'd been run through by a knife. In silence, he looked at them, eyes watering, trying to find something only he could see. Zamasu and Black just stared back, grinning at him without a shred of remorse or sympathy. Gohan felt the profound urge to walk over and console him but luckily, Kibito was already there, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"There is nothing more we can do sir," Kibito said solemnly.

Gowasu didn't seem to hear him at first, but when he pulled his hand away and straightened himself back to his full height, there was a sad resolve etched on his face.

"Yes, yes I do believe you're right."

"A futile effort, just as I said it would be," Vegeta barked. "Now we do it my way and send this bastard straight to hell!"

"It's so amusing when father and son spout the same empty threats," Future Zamasu laughed. "Surely the two of you would grow tired of being proven wrong by now."

"I'd say he's finally paid the price for his hubris if his present state is any indication."

Momentarily stunned by the implications of Black's words, the group glared at them before Vegeta took the initiative, transforming into a Super Saiyan Blue alongside his father. The two of them appeared next to Gohan as Black and Zamasu calmly, almost casually responded by falling into their own respective fighting stances.

"Get this over to him, Gohan," Vegeta handed Gohan their last Senzu, his eyes never leaving their enemies. "I can deal with this bastard myself until you get back."

Gohan didn't object, knowing that if Trunks' ki was weak enough to barely sense, his condition was too critical to leave unattended. Glancing at the others, he noticed that Bulma had taken the opportunity to slip away, shrinking the machine safely back into a capsule while Gowasu and Kibito teleported a safe distance away.

"Don't worry, I won't let you down!" Blasting off, Gohan could already feel the clash of four powers behind him, the superiority of his father against Zamasu and Vegeta colliding against Black with an edge of his own too. That made him feel a lot better about temporarily leaving them behind.

He keenly focused on energies besides theirs, feeling a large group of huddled together people somewhere underground nearby with someone eerily familiar to Yajirobe of all people sticking out.

_Those must be the survivors I've heard about._

Elsewhere, near the outskirts of the city on the edge of the forest, he sensed another above average but dwindling ki signature amidst the ruins of an apartment block. From above, he could make out Trunks lying on a slab with a pool of red blood distinctly sticking out amidst the multitude shades of grey. Gohan also noticed a woman alongside two police officers hovering above him, no doubt trying to stabilize him.

"Please move!" Gohan urged, trying to sound simultaneously urgent but respectful as he landed behind the group. Immediately, the three people snapped their guns at him and glared suspiciously. "Don't worry! I'm one of the good guys! My name's Son Gohan! I'm here with Goku and Vegeta to save the future!"

"Gohan?" The woman pointing the rifle said, lowering it ever so slightly as if she knew him from somewhere. The half-Saiyan noticed something familiar about her as well, but more pressing matters kept him from figuring it out. "I know you, Trunks talked about you all the time."

_Thank goodness someone recognized me! I really didn't want to knock them out!_

"It's alright fellas, he's on our side!" She ordered and they obeyed, it didn't keep them from sending dirty looks Gohan's way as he knelt next to Trunks and noticed the stab wound in his side. Vegeta had warned him about Black's use of bladed energy attacks, and the results were plain to see. Luckily, he didn't cut Trunks anywhere to make seating the Senzu more difficult or outright impossible.

Gingerly, Gohan lifted Trunks' head and placed the Senzu inside, moving his head a bit to help it travel down faster. The wound closed instantaneously and his time traveling friends gravely pale features were healthy again.

He slowly woke up with a growl, opening and closing his eyes as both Gohan and Mai helped him into a sitting position on the rubble. Trunks started looking back and forth at the two people helping him and as his sight came back, recognition clear on his face.

"Easy Trunks, easy," the woman whispered, smiling at him.

"Mai?" Trunks said as he noticed her smiling at him when he turned to his left, he seemed ready to keel over again.

"G-Gohan?!" He rasped. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Same thing as our dads, helping you guys save the future!"

"B-but,... your family..."

"Aren't the ones in danger, you and everybody else here are. When I heard what was going on, I couldn't just sit idly by."

Amusingly, this older version had the same guilty pout as the young Trunks waiting for them back home, Gohan noticed with a smile. Months ago he might've held a slight grudge for being out of the loop, but that was a long time and whole training regiment in the past.

"Don't feel bad about not telling me, it doesn't matter now. We've got more important things to worry about."

"Black and Zamasu," The pout turned into a scowl worthy of his father. "How can I help?"

Gohan felt Vegeta's power spike up against Black, slowly overwhelming him on the other side of the city. His father, on the other hand, was fighting Zamasu just a few blocks away, probably finding it difficult to nab him with the Mafuba when he was still a moving target.

"Get on over to my dad, we've got a way to stop Zamasu for good but he's gonna need your help to keep him nailed down. Once you do that move out of the way and let my dad do the rest."

"What about you?" Trunks asked as Gohan helped him to his feet.

"Your dad and I will deal with Black, you two can join us once Zamasu is sealed away," Gohan looked to the others. "You guys should probably take some cover, it's about to get even crazier out here."

"I will," the woman nodded before rushing in to plant a kiss on Trunks' cheek, turning him as red as a tomato. "Please don't get yourself almost killed again."

Gohan let himself smile before turning back towards Trunks, with a final exchange of nods they set off to help each other's fighters to end the insane Zero Humans Plan.

* * *

The first son of Goku found Vegeta and Black engaged in mid-air fisticuffs with Vegeta, unsurprisingly taking an offensive initiative with a flurry of blows the smirking but pressured body snatcher tried and failed to match. Gohan wasn't about to ease up on the pressure, with a mighty shout, he allowed the full force of his newly acquired God power to flow out of him in a flash of brilliant, white fire illuminating him from head to toe.

A moment later, his fist connected with Black's face with a satisfying crunching noise, breaking his guard entirely.

"About time you showed up!" Vegeta shouted from behind him before kicking Black in the chest from above, crashing him into the ground. The two wasted no time in ganging up on him, blocking when one attacked and reverse as the smirking Black sometimes succeeded, other times not in dealing with the onslaught.

Gohan's movements seemed to cause him more trouble than Vegeta's to whom he reacted with almost intimate familiarity, the others? Not so much as blow after blow from the half-Saiyan collided against his cheeks or smashed against his ribs. Not that it seemingly mattered to him, the body snatcher looked elated than distressed.

But moments into their attacks, Gohan saw why. His diseased looking aura flared to life as his power suddenly but not overwhelmingly rose. A punch was blocked with a grin and expert ease and a feeling of familiarity started to creep into Gohan's mind. He'd done this before, during his last training with his father so many years ago.

Black's movements had become disconcertingly more familiar then as both he and Vegeta started looking less like an unstoppable coordinate duo and closer to stooges being toyed around with. Black, powered up and more familiar with Gohan was able to know just where to position his arm for a block, or where to strike out to break his attack mid-sequence.

"Splendid! Absolutely splendid! I knew you were going to make a fine battle for me, boy!"

A sharp pain to Gohan's gut ended any retort he had in mind as Black's fist burrowed into his stomach, then, a searing blast erupted from the fist and sent him flying several feet into the air. He managed to recover mid-air, skidding against the floor in time to see Black side step Vegeta to jab him in the back of the head several quick times. Sending the Prince tumbling.

Gohan re-engaged into the battle, charging Black who almost lazily seemed to stand there, smiling in defiance and taunting at him. It was only when the body snatcher suffered a sudden knee uppercut to the jaw did Gohan smile back.

Black gurgled loudly, that smirk finally wiped off his face as he stumbled against the floor, he shouldn't have bothered, Vegeta's flying backward kick gave him a one-way ticket to the ground regardless.

The body stealing Kai might now the moves of most of their friends and allies, but he didn't know Videl's, which was precisely why he was kissing dirt at that moment. Gohan had suggested familiarizing themselves with his wife's various martial moves precisely for this reason as Goku had never fought Videl and by extension, Black couldn't draw from those experiences to gain an edge on them.

Noticing that Black was about to leap, Gohan cut him off using a move from two people particularly appropriate: his mother and brother. Spinning in the air, he extended his dominant right leg and brought it down with a guillotine chop to Black's spine, a move his mother taught their little brother. Two more fighters their dad and Black had little experience fighting.

With a shout, the body snatcher flared his aura and managed to blow Gohan away only for Vegeta to take the initiative and use Videl's elbow slam to his gut. Gohan repositioned himself in the air and flew back towards Black, encircling his head with his legs, pinning him in place before body slamming him into the floor.

"That's for my family!" Gohan shouted, noticing Black's aura shrink and engulf his hand, he only narrowly avoided the slash of his newly created scimitar. Vegeta didn't bother, grinning at the thieving Kai and holding his ground even when the blade came swinging at his left arm.

It didn't cut an inch. This was another thing they'd planned for: barriers surrounding them completely, a defense to make sure Black's bladed attacks wouldn't be able to instantly put them on the defensive or to cut them.

When Gohan formed his own, white barrier, he high kicked Black in the back of the head before Vegeta crushed his scimitar and promptly right hooked him across the face. The body snatcher had long since stopped grinning and even seemed genuinely shocked as he began to cough blood, warbling awkwardly on his feet.

It was another added bonus of the barrier, it made their attacks much, much denser than usual. If their regular blows were planet cracking battering rams, surrounded by dense, focused ki, they were planet cracking bullet trains instead.

"Did you really think we wouldn't get wise to your tricks?" Vegeta shouted, savoring the scowl on Black's face. "Then again, calling most of it yours is a grave insult to the **real** source of your power!"

Vegeta uppercuts him into the air, leaving him vulnerable to an overhead chop from Gohan. "The man whose body you stole!"

He slammed back into the ground, kneeling and coughing blood and most certainly vulnerable. Gohan and Vegeta renewed their assault, punching and kicking him constantly with Black himself not being able to muster a proper defense. Then, they dropped their barriers and rammed their fists into his gut just as they started to glow.

"Kakarot!"

"My father!"

Their shouts were drowned out by the explosion of ki erupting from the two of them, blasting Black away into a nearby building and promptly burying him in the ruble of the city he helped destroy.

* * *

"You-" A punch caved in his ribcage. "Can not-" a kick snapped his knees. "Hope-" A chop cut into his eyes. "To-" An elbow broke his nose. "Win!"

These are but a few of the multitude of injuries the stubborn human known as Son Goku inflicted on Zamasu, somehow, impossibly, beyond all logic and evidence to the contrary, believing they could work on him! Had Zamasu now shown his invincibility countless times so far? Had he now proven to even this hick savage from a backwater planet and spawned from a horrid species how he could not punch this particular foe to death? Much like how his kind could not stand against the true justice of the only necessary God.

_But if he and his kind were so_ intelligent _, their extermination might not be necessary._ Zamasu mused as he regenerated, more concerned with the well being of his other self. He sensed the new arrival, Gohan, suddenly join the fray with Vegeta and it seemed as though they had an edge.

_Not for long though,_ He smiled, knowing that his counterpart would simply grow more powerful than he already was and end the two troublesome humans.

"Damn," Goku sighed from behind him. "You really are immortal."

Zamasu rolled his eyes. "Of course, you dolt, did you think your attacks would suddenly work against me if you felt hard enough about it?"

"Had to try one more time," He chuckled much to Zamasu's chagrin. Then, he sensed his counterparts power-up, as expected and suddenly, that obnoxious, goofy grin on Goku's face vanished. "Don't look concerned, you'll join them in death soon enough-"

A sudden blast sent him careening towards the ground and Zamasu blankly stared at the culprit to find Trunks floating next to Goku, somehow, instantly recovered after blowing through his entire stamina reserves mere minutes ago in the mountains.

"Good to see you back in action, Trunks!"

"Thanks, Goku!" The petulant human had the gall to scowl at him from above, as though he deserved to loom over a deity so. "Go do your thing, I'll take care of him."

"Alright, make sure to run when I tell you, trust me, you're not gonna want to get hit by this!"

"Let me guess," Zamasu smirked at them as he elevated himself to hover above the two Saiyan's. "Will it be another punch? Or perhaps a kick? No, wait! Maybe you'll try to blast me, I'm certain you've only tried that a few hundred-"

Trunks fist cut through his stomach. "Times," Zamasu finished, grinning at the foolish time traveling mortal scowling back at him. _You truly cannot understand the futility of attacking me, do you?_

He was just about to chastise them for daring to try and harm a higher being when he suddenly felt his counterpart falter, his strength dropping steadily as Gohan and Vegeta were, somehow, beyond all reason, managing to turn the tables on him!

Before he could demand answers or look to aid his other self, Trunks flung him into the ground and proceeded to viciously beat, tear, maul, punch, kick, blast, carve,... and do everything within his power to try and overwhelm Zamasu's regeneration. As the constantly mangled Kai quickly rebuilt himself only to be destroyed once more, he felt immense satisfaction at their futility, at how he would watch them stupidly burn themselves out whilst he remained strong and invulnerable.

He would savor finally carving them to pieces and their screams of terror.

"Trunks! Get out of the way!" Zamasu heard Goku shout and the half-breed whelp promptly halted his assault, finally allowing Zamasu the opportunity to reconstitute himself. Once he could see again, he saw the Blue haired Super Saiyan standing several feet away, pointing his open hands in his direction with a peculiar jar standing next to him.

" **MMMAFFFUBBBA!** "

Zamasu merely raised an eyebrow as a strange, swirling vortex of green erupted between them. He could see it wasn't a ki blast and clearly not a physical attack, so what? When his body started to contort with the rhythm of the energies between them and felt something, not pain, but... twisting, something mangling and stretching his very soul in unnatural ways did he for the first time, in a long time, feel fear.

"W-wh-what is this?!" He shouted at the grinning Saiyan conjuring the vortex, hearing even his own voice echo and mangle into something horrid and warbled. "What are you doing to me?! How dare you do this to a God!"

"A crummy God like you should get whats coming to him!" Goku shouted above the noise of the vortex and Zamasu's own unnatural shrieks.

"How dare you judge me! Worthless human scum!"

"The only scum here is you and your insane plan!" Trunks shouted, settling next to Goku and taking the strange jar into his hands. it was at that moment Zamasu realized what they were doing to him, they were going to seal him inside of that.

As his immortal body fell prey to the wants and needs of the vortex, he tried to shriek, to scream, to punch, to kick, to cut, to do anything, everything he could to break free. But so elongated had he become that even his voice seemed to stretch into the infinity.

Goku pointed both his arms in the direction of the jar and with it, Zamasu's elongated, screaming form compressed into a ball of blue energy, cursing them as it was sucked into the jar. As he was able to gaze out at the faces of the two humans triumphantly grinning down at him, looking like massive giants over an ant just before darkness fully enveloped him, Zamasu could only think one thing.

"HOW?! HOW CAN THIS BE HOW IT ENDS?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One down, one to go, but that one will not go down without a fight! I'm gonna be honest, it was a bit of a bitch writing the last Zamasu chunk as I didn't know if I could reasonably stretch it into feeling as if it lasted just as long as Gohan & Vegeta vs Black but it turned out better than I expected.
> 
> Next time, expect to see some serious retaliation from Black for this!


	7. A Gods Fury

Zamasu didn't know what to feel about his current predicament, lying in the rubble and losing to the likes of Vegeta and Son Goku's firstborn. Anger at their defiance of a God or elation from possibly growing even more powerful from them? As it did more and more often, the latter won out against the former upon closer inspection. He always enjoyed whatever chance he could find to test his martial might, remembering various faux duels against Kibito and the other Kai apprentices. But residing in Son Goku's body took this to a whole new, intoxicating level. The rush of new power coupled with it only made it all the more alluring.

This intoxication brought a smile to his face and squashed most of his Godly indignation. Deliberately slow, Zamasu or Black as they continued to call him, rose from the dirt to find his adversaries waiting patiently for him. Already, a new height of power began to churn inside of him to face and destroy them.

"I am impressed, appetizers," He casually walked down the rubble, wiping the dirt and grime off his dogi. "For humans, you've shown surprising cunning. I shall take note to learn this as well!"

"Cocky bastard," Vegeta growled as he began stomping towards him. "If you think you'll live that long then you're sadly mistaken!"

"Easy Vegeta," Son Goku's child advanced, slower than his partner. "Don't let him egg you on."

"Watch over yourself, boy. I don't need a babysitter."

"No, you just felt the need to fight with him at your side instead of battling me alone," A vein on Vegeta's forehead popped, getting a laugh out of Zamasu. "Not that I'm complaining, twice the pain will give me twice the power!"

Focusing his ki into a scimitar once more, the churning power inside Goku's stolen body began to grow more rapidly. Zamasu was just about to let it blast outward when shock than fear cut through his anticipatory glee. His future self was vanishing in and out of existence, his ki becoming jumbled, twisted and random. Then, he was gone, completely and utterly gone.

_What in the hell is happening over there?_

He needed answers, quickly and felt another ripple of anger shoot through him at having to disengage a potentially useful battle to investigate. When his two opponents tried to close the distance with a rush, Zamasu cut across the ground halting their advance. With a wave of his free hand, he sent a cloud of smoke and debris hurtling towards them, giving him more than enough time to teleport away and to where his counterpart had vanished.

* * *

"That was amazing Goku! I knew you guys would find a way to stop Zamasu!"

"Rrgghhh, thanks! But could you give me a hand here?!"

"Oh! O-of course!" Trunks rushed to his friend's side as he fumbled with a series of ropes meant to tie around the jar. When instructed to hold the top down, he did so, not letting up until Goku finished tying everything down then placing a piece of paper onto the jar.

"There!" Goku panted out, rubbing his sweaty brow as he knelt next to Trunks and the jar. "It took more out of me than I thought, but it worked!"

The time traveler was about to ask him what it was when Goku suddenly call out for his mother. Trunks himself couldn't see here anywhere, turning his head this way and that to look. That's when he noticed something small and blue hovering behind them, a second later, it grew into his mom!

"Trunks!" She shouted, hugging him nice and tight. "I'm so happy you're okay!"

"M-mom?!" He tried to say, amazed by how she managed to crush him even when he was transformed! "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine! You can stop crushing me now!"

"Sorry," She pulled back, grinning at him. "I was just worried those monsters got to you!"

 _They almost did,_ He thought sourly. Despite having this newfound power, Black and Zamasu were more than capable of beating him not once but twice and he was lucky neither fight killed him. _But she doesn't need to know that._

"Bulma! Quit being mushy and get this jar out of here!" Goku urged, shoving it into her chest. "Black's gonna show up any second and-"

They both heard a sudden blast take off and Trunks was just fast enough to kick it aside. Before he even knew it, Black was right in front of him with a kick ready to go. It hit its mark, sending Trunks flying backward screaming. Luckily, Goku was there to back him up, he rushed towards Black and with a ki ball intercepted the energy blade. Even better, his mother got the message and by the time Trunks landed, she'd shrunk back and left to where she was headed.

"What have you done to me?" Black demanded and Trunks couldn't help but feel satisfaction at hearing him genuinely aggravated for once.

"You guys decided to cheat, so we cheated back!" Goku backflipped away from a sword swipe, firing off a few blasts Black's way which was all quickly cut down. Trunks rushed back into the fray, sending several jabs with his sword to no effect. Black practically slapped them aside with his own blade and it took all of Trunks' reflexes to make a possibly deep arm cut into a small shoulder gash.

Black was about to make another move before jerking his head to the south. From there, Trunks sensed his father and Gohan coming in fast and both smashed into the spot where the body snatcher previously stood.

"Dad! Trunks! Are you two okay?" Gohan asked, glancing from one to the other.

"A little winded but okay," Goku replied, cracking his knuckles as he took his place beside his son. "I'm kinda glad you guys didn't finish him off so quickly."

"All in due time." Trunks' father said from the front.

"I'll ask again, Saiyan's," Black shouted, pointing his sword at them. "What have you done with my other self?"

"That's none of your business," Gohan shouted back. Black didn't say anything, lowering his sword with an unreadable expression on his face. Trunks couldn't figure out if he was fuming but trying not to show it, maybe even concerned for the first time?

 _Good, you should be,_ Trunks thought with a lot of satisfaction. Even with Black's ability to improve himself through pain and combat, four opponents right around his ballpark would put him through the grinder. Especially since Gohan and his father were already giving him a run for his money. Even with two weaker people like himself and Goku there along with Zamasu being gone, they'd never have a better chance of winning this!

"We'll see about that, boy," Black growled before vanishing then reappearing in front of Goku, his open palm aimed right at his face. Both Trunks and Gohan snapped into action, sending two blasts to knock him back. Trunks' father went in for the kill, managing to match Black blow for blow in a melee, he was even blocking the sword without slowing down a beat.

Goku joined him, teleporting to Black's blind spot and almost managed to score a chop to his knock if Black hadn't ducked in just the last possible second. It did, however, let Trunks' father uppercut him into the air for Gohan to kick him back down. Trunks were right there waiting for him, letting out a burst of punches to Black's gut and receiving the satisfying sound of Black coughing in pain for his troubles.

He tried to raise his sword for another attack only for Gohan to grab then crush the blade with his palm before blasting the body snatcher away where Goku and Trunks' father rushed him from both sides with a flurry of punches and kicks. They were soon joined by Trunks and Gohan, overwhelming Black who could do nothing but dodge or block as they came at him!

Soon, even he couldn't keep it up and all four of them tore into him, punching, kicking, smacking, bludgeoning and even managing a cut or two all over him. Trunks noted how he wasn't smirking anymore but grimacing with a look to rival his father's, the look of a man frustrated he'd been completely outclassed.

 _Just a little more now!_ Trunks decided to move in for the kill, to ram his sword through Black's chest only to find himself flung back as Black unleashed a powerful explosion wave. The others landed relatively unscathed while Black took to the sky, his aura pulsating as he glared at them from above.

"Filthy creatures!" He roared, not bothering to hide his anger. "If you wish to challenge a God then behold! **Prepare yourselves to witness the true strength of a divine being!** "

His purple aura exploded all around him, growing bigger and bigger with each passing moment. Then, when he pointed his open palm to the sky, it focused there, but not in the shape of a blade, but of a giant, pulsating ball of malignant looking energy.

"Hmph, looks like he's getting desperate," Trunks' father spoke, seemingly unimpressed by the display of power. Trunks himself felt his own dampen as he sensed the growing energy, how the ball grew so big it was literally blasting through the smoke filled sky, how it made the planet shake so much the half-Saiyan feared the planet would get destroyed before the attack was even fired at them.

By the time it was over, the ball looked gargantuan enough to dwarf West City in its prime in-size!

" **Now, accursed Saiyan's, say goodbye to your planet!** " Black shouted, thrusting his hand and the ki ball towards them. Suddenly, the shaking only got worse and worse and Trunks along with the rest struggled to stay on his feet. But he wasn't about to let that stop him from beating Black and saving the future.

"Let's give it back to him!" Gohan shouted as he powered up with a milky white aura bursting out of him. He put two of his hands just above his head, the unmistakable pose of the Masenko. Goku started chanting the Kamehameha while Trunks' father was preparing the Final Flash. Not to be left out, Trunks stretched out his hands and with a quick series of motions, pointed them towards the encroaching ball, readying his own move, the Burning Attack, to destroy Black and his last-ditch effort straight to hell.

When Black's ball was halfway to them, they fired.

"BURNING ATTACK!"

"FINAL FLASH!"

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

"MASENKO!"

Their blasts, each so similar but distinct erupted at full power, joining together to form a singular, greater blast that instantly halted the ball. The force of their combined power made Trunk's teeth rattle, but he paid it no attention, he was fully focused on pouring as much ki as he could into carving through his final obstacle to stopping Black. Just from seeing the others, he knew they all felt the same, and he never felt more grateful to them than in that instant.

But most importantly of all, he felt the ball slowly push back, ever so slightly against their onslaught and so did Black, his ki fluctuating wildly as he tried to concentrate from behind the ball. No doubt feeling the pressure of maintaining such an attack without letting it break to pieces.

_It will though, I can promise you that, Black!_

* * *

"Incredible," Master Gowasu muttered from Kibito's left side as the two observed the incredible battle being waged below their vantage point of a crumbling skyscraper. "To think that so many powerful humans would exist. The seventh universe is truly an awe-inspiring place."

 _More than you realize sir_ , Kibito commented to himself, feeling himself lightheaded as the five gargantuan powers clashed in the distance. The sheer discharge of the beam battle erupted a hurricane of wind and earth to hurtle away from the spot, toppling over buildings all over and further destroying a great city of humanity. _Not that it matters, I suppose,...  
_

Out of curiosity, he let himself sense the number of Earthling's in the past and compared them to the ones left here, it was next to nothing. A species once numerous and prospering cut down to an insignificant gnat of its former self. To say nothing of the horrendous damage done to the environment and the other, non-sentient creatures. The things Zamasu wanted to save through his so-called utopia.

 _Madness, absolute madness,_ Kibito shook his head, once again remembering how the two of them conversed a century prior. How they discovered a shared distaste for humans and their disastrous and destructive waves. He also remembered, with great shame, how he felt even more strongly about it after speaking to Zamasu. How he'd managed to turn a nagging feeling into something resembling genuine dislike.

"How easily this could have been me," Kibito said, earning a glance from Gowasu. The master said nothing for a time, not until after he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"But it is not, for you did not let your feelings corrupt you. You rose above them, not the least of which was helped by seeing these very same, incredible humans, defeat an evil being such as Majin Boo," Gowasu sighed, looking even elder and tired. "If only I could have done the same, perhaps Zamasu too, would have learned."

Kibito returned the gesture, allowing a rare smile to tug at his lips. "You did as best you could sir."

"The best he could to hold me back!"

Before Kibito's brain could even think of trying anything, a blade of pure, purple energy cut through Gowasu's upper chest, causing a torrent of blood to burst through his flesh and mouth. The blade twisted then went straight up, nearly cutting the gasping elder Kaioshin of Universe 7 clean in half. Kibito could do nothing but watch as master Gowasu plummeted to the ground, his energy already severely fading.

"Such a shame, Kibito," Zamasu said from his side and Kibito was able to turn around just in time to find him there, smirking even as the several veins popping all around his head transformed his visage into that of an unnatural monster. "I really did want you at my side, perhaps another version will be wiser."

Even as he felt himself disintegrate as always during a teleportation, the scorching heat of the blast was on his clothes and flesh. Kibito didn't even scream properly when he started to burn and the darkness took him.

* * *

 _What was that?!_ Gohan felt something, several energies rise then vanish behind him but when the ball suddenly jerked itself against their blasts, he was forced to put the sensation to the wayside. _Black's still not giving up I see._

That was another thing he found strange, for all his apparent oscillations in ki, Black was still holding steady, finding some new reservoir of willpower or ki or maybe both to keep drawing on to resist them. But he knew Black couldn't win, the four of them were doing more than a good job of beating him down just moments ago and this would end the same.

A sudden change in the ball proved Gohan right, the spot where their four beams combined into a massive one was growing weaker and weaker with each passing moment. The ball itself was oddly contorting as if struggling to keep itself from breaking to pieces.

"This is it!" Trunks shouted from the uttermost left. "We've got him! Just one more push!"

"Then let's get it done already!" Vegeta joined him and the four obliged, releasing another, vast rush of ki into their beams and with satisfaction, watched the ball contort even more as it was pushed back closer and closer to Black's own energy signature.

Then, the signature, already feeling strange since the beam clash started, vanished completely then reappeared elsewhere... in two pieces, one larger one and the other small but both were distinctly Black. Before anyone could figure out just what happened, the ball of ki's contortions reached their climax with the massive ball shrinking in on itself before being divided into four smaller balls. The middle portion where the group's beams were smacking against, no longer existed and they could do nothing as a massive exertion of their strength blasted away from them, off into the vastness of space before blowing up somewhere off in the distance.

"What the hell?!" Vegeta shouted, his chest heaving up and down along with the rests. They all starred at the four balls with two Black's reappearing just behind them, grinning down at them.

"How can there be two of them?!" Trunks demanded, panting the hardest of them all.

Then, the copy entered into the main one who's power spiked up back to the exact same levels he had before the battle had started!

"The... multi-form technique!" Gohan's father said, gulping as he scowled towards the body snatcher.

"Correct," Black gleefully replied, all semblance of frustration and anger gone. "It was a risky bit of business, doing so many things all at once from forming this attack to carving a piece of myself away to get rid off a few nuisances. But the results are most glorious, don't you think?"

 _Nuisances?_ Gohan wondered, remembering the strange ki going off behind him. When he put two and two together, a horrible dread etched into his chest. _Kibito and Master Gowasu..._

A dread which only intensified when Black, staring at them with an unnerving glee in his eyes closed his hand into fists then swiftly opened them back up, causing the four massive balls to dissolve into a hundred, then a thousand, then a hundred thousand then many, many more, smaller, but far more focused balls of ki. They soon littered the sky around the city, then they stretched out for so far that Gohan couldn't see the end of them.

"He... he wouldn't dare..." Vegeta muttered, trying and failing to keep his voice from faltering.

"It's one way to get his partner out..." Gohan's father replied, trying to make light of the situation but sounding just awkward and even more scared because of it.

"Now Saiyan's," Black announced, slowly moving his hands in slow motions like a composer in front of his orchestra, causing the thousands of balls to shift around wildly at speeds and patterns that made Gohan feel sick even trying to keep track of. "Let's see if you're fast enough to stop these from destroying the Earth!"

When Gohan and the others sensed several break off and head towards the ground, they knew if even a single one hit, the Earth would explode and Black, even if he died, would get saved by a released Zamasu.

"SCATTER!" Trunks ordered and a second later, all four of them did so, trying to block out Black's farewell to them in the form of a deranged cackle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you think manga, thug Black was gonna show up? Good! That's exactly what I wanted you to think when Black started to lose his cool. Since the lesson he learned from Gohan and Vegeta was about cunning and screwing over your enemy, it felt appropriate to have Super's best bad guy get one over on them by using his brains.
> 
> If Black's ki feats seem insane, remember, this is him with a body of Goku's from a whole year after the U6 tournament, a Goku who'd mastered how to combine SSBlue with Kaio-Ken, giving him a considerable skill with ki manipulation already apparent just in the way he makes precise energy weapons.


	8. Plans Going Awry

For what felt like the hundredth time in past few minutes, Gohan braced himself against the impact of Black's energy balls. The orbs in-question, soaring towards the planet, exploded on impact with him, shaking the half-Saiyan to the bone. One-off hits or even small consecutive bursts of this caliber didn't do much, but a constant stream would.

They would wear him and the others out, leaving them ripe for the picking. They constantly shifted across the sky, randomly moving about but never accidentally smacking into one another. It reminded the scholar of an ant army inside their underground home. Cluttered together but never in each other's way.

He was above Yunzabit Heights now, rushing destroy several orbs threatening to explode on its surface. Gohan saw a chance to loosen the load and with a thrust of his hand, sent several blasts of his own to intercept. Black's attack suddenly shifted, the orbs elegantly avoiding Gohan's own and coming straight at him.

_Good thing I've got my barrier,_ Gohan thought as they closed the distance. It wasn't until he sensed something shift in their ki, followed by a sharp pain in his cheek did his seeming reprieve get cut short. The orb changed shape mid-air, resembling a flying, paper thing disk instead of a soccer ball, one focused enough to cut even through his barrier!

Gohan considered running away for a bit only to shoot the idea down, Black's attacks would just go for their original target if he let up. Instead, he decided to try and destroy them again. This time, he took a move from Vegeta's playbook and aimed his index finger like a pistol, firing from his index finger.

One or two went down leaving just three more.

Those changed shape again, now looking like tiny javelins as thin as needles. They darted around Gohan's increasingly awkward blasts, forcing him to take the hit. He braced himself for the pain to come and stifled a shout when they cut right into his lower arm. He couldn't stop himself from screaming when they exploded. They weren't big ones, thankfully, but the searing pain made his whole arm shake regardless.

Elsewhere, he felt the others ki drop too, and he felt Black, floating in one spot and orchestrating all of this. Calm and grinning while they were flying around and being beat down. Gohan hoped someone with an idea put an end to it soon before it was too late.

* * *

A sharp jab of pain ran through Goku's whole body after it started on his shoulder. Black's ball turned into an exploding needle, blowing a small chunk out of the Saiyan's shoulder when it exploded. That was the third time an attack like it hit next to a dozen cuts and bruises. He was flying over snowy mountains at the moment, feeling oddly nostalgic when he noticed a giant old tower sticking out the snow below him when Black attacked again.

Now he was flying to some islands, seeing Trunks zip past him somewhere else. None of them could find the time to talk with each other, to maybe come up with a plan or something. Not that Goku was much of a planner, but his gut told him this wasn't going to work forever, Black would win if they played by his rules. So, as he braced himself for more blasts to bang against his body, Goku ran down his options.

_I can't Teleport like this, so that's out. The Kamehameha? No, he'd dodge it for sure!_ Then, inspiration struck him just after Black's exploding balls did in the face.  _The new move, the one Piccolo helped me make! Black won't be able to resist it!  
_

Grinning even as another disk cut his leg, Goku knew he was on to something. Black was obsessed with him and getting stronger, so, if he gave the body stealing bastard something, he'd have a shot at taking him down. Just like one of the fishes he catches near the river of his home, Goku knew Black wouldn't resist a juicy bait like the Kaio-Ken!

Letting himself relax as much as possible given the circumstances, Goku kept just enough of his focus on the planet destroying balls he had to deal with as he recalled his training with Piccolo. Instinctively, he remembered the feel of Piccolo's ki as he charged the Makankosappo all while forming clones and fighting them without missing a beat. How he was able to perfectly force then focus all the ki of his body inside to a single point for an ultra-powerful attack that took him past his limits!

Powering himself up to his full Blue power, Goku exhaled then grit his teeth as did the same thing. Then, he reached down even deeper, to the points of ki focus spread throughout his body and through the principles of Kaio-Ken, made them give him even more than they already were.

Momentarily, the Saiyan felt a fear of being left crippled in the pit of his gut, but the memories of his recent ki training with Piccolo kept this at bay. Even the dozens of blasts and more cuts being added as he almost absently flew to meet them didn't take his focus down. It helped that he wasn't simultaneously forcing every single point in his body to power up all at once, no, instead, the small bits of power building up slowly were sent to the palm of his hand...

* * *

A jolt of excitement shot through Zamasu when he sensed something powerful built up inside Son Goku. A certain rise in his power making his stolen body and Kai's spirit inside it, shake in anticipation. Like many of the Saiyan's abilities, through the body, he was able to vaguely recall the sensations of his previous fights until rises in power through battle connected his godly mind to the human bodies battle memories.

This sensation was no different, it was new to Zamasu's mind, but the body knew it well, already revealing the path to a new plateau of power residing within Son Goku's flesh and blood. That was a possible scenario Zamasu considered while devising his grand strategy. Either he would destroy the Earth, killing the Saiyan's and freeing Zamasu, or, Goku would give him more power in the last ditch effort to turn the tide, only dooming himself and his motley crew in the process.

Even the possibility of Zamasu dying from suffocation in-space was accounted for, he and his future counterpart had discovered a time machine in Universe 12. Even if he died here, the other Zamasu would be freed from whatever they'd done to him and he could simply travel to another timeline and create another, even greater partner inside Goku's body. And with his foolish fellow Kai, Gowasu and Kibito down for good, Zamasu knew that his partner was most definitely still on Earth.

No matter what, victory was assured.

This fact widened his smile and made him further excited to see what Goku was doing, was it that strange, Kaio-Ken power he'd shown against the assassin of Universe 6? Zamasu certainly hoped so if the Saiyan's current rising power was any indication. The possibility of making himself twice, thrice or even ten times stronger at will, perhaps, even more, was too enticing to pass up.

So, as he continued conducting the orchestra of his multitude of energy orbs, purposefully laying further pressure on Goku's allies while, ever so slightly, alleviating the Saiyan's own, Black simply hovered in the air and licked his lips. A smile never leaving them as he felt Goku grow more and more powerful, and most importantly, even closer to him.

From the north, he was coming, his blue aura mixed with a vicious red focused tightly into his fist, the epicenter of his power. For purely show sake, Zamasu made several orbs hurtle at him, getting close enough to pressure him without actually hitting him.

As Goku drew nearer and so did his magnified power, the Kai felt his heart pound against his chest with excitement, his breath quickening and a smile growing wider and wider. The pain would initially be substantial, but from that wonderful pain would come power!

_Come, Son Goku! Give me everything you have! Let me ascend to even greater heights!  
_

He was close now, just a few feet away and closing in, the red and blue energy surrounding his fist shining like a beautiful star, drawing Zamasu's gaze to it. The Kai actually couldn't breathe when Goku, shouting defiantly as always, pulled it back and sent it hurtling his way, it's power practically tasting sweet on his tongue.

When the uppercut shot past just a few inches away from his face, Black's heart skipped a beat and his mind went blank.

The palm of Goku's hand burst open, releasing the blue and red energy gathered inside, right into the sea of Zamasu's orbs. The Kai gathered his wits fast enough to watch in horror and awe as the blast entered the midst of his own and detonated. The power was even more glorious than he thought, unleashing a shockwave so fast and so powerful, it erupted in a mix of calming blue and spectacular, bloody red across the vast majority of the planet's sky, destroying just as much of Zamasu's assembled energy orbs.

For what felt like an eternity, Zamasu stared at the display, at the majesty of it, and the sheer power of it, a power that should have been sent to him instead. Looking back to his front, he saw Son Goku there, hovering, panting but snidely smirking at him even as his fist shook and looked burnt.

A mix of elation and anger built up inside him once again, elation at feeling such power but anger at not only being defied, but tricked like a fool. But that cocky grin of Goku's, the trickery of his stunt and the satisfaction he gleaned from it left Zamasu speechless.

_"_ That... _"_ He clenched his fists. "That was... _"_ He grits his teeth. " **That... was MEANT FOR ME!** _"_

His anger exploded in the form of a punch to Goku's chest, he savored the blood that spurred from the Saiyan's lips but he wasn't done with him. Not even close. Grabbing him by the head, Zamasu hurled him towards the ground and pinned him to it with a vicious flurry of punches.

" **How dare you take that power from me?!** " Zamasu roared, ramming his fists into Goku's chest until he was sure he heard the sound of ribs breaking. " **How dare you dangle it in front of me only to snatch it away!** "

He stomped his foot on to Goku's face, feeling his nose snap under the blows, but it did little to quell Zamasu's anger. But he could not help himself this time, the Saiyan had teased him with what he wanted, let him practically taste it only to snatch it away. For once, the Saiyan body he inhabited did not release a jolt of excitement to quell his indignation, it added to it, feeling robbed of another, great challenge with which to improve itself with.

Only when Zamasu found himself bashed from the back of the head and sent hurtling far away from Goku, did some of his sense come back to him.

* * *

"DAD!" Gohan shouted, kneeling next to his father and trying to help him off the ground. He didn't look good. Blood ran down his nose and mouth, a bad gash was just over his eye and he winced every time Gohan put his hands anywhere close to his chest. But even in spite of all that, he managed to chuckle and even smile.

"Hey... squirt... thanks for bailing me out..."

Gohan rushed into his pockets, knowing that Black wouldn't stay down for long and to his relief, found the last of their last batch of Senzu, well, half of one. It wouldn't completely fix his fathers energy but it would help his injuries. He might regret it later but as he looked at his beaten down parent, Gohan couldn't give a damn about what ifs.

"You okay dad?"

"Yeah," He groaned, staring at his fist as he opened and closed it. "Could've been a lot worse if not for Piccolo."

Thankfully, Gohan's prediction was right, the bean managed to fix up a lot of his dad's injuries, not all of them or his energy, but enough for him to get back up without help. Before he could ask what his father meant by the Piccolo comment, both of them snapped their attention to Black fighting Trunks and Vegeta on the other side of the city block.

"Come on," His dad transformed back into a Super Saiyan Blue. "We're not done yet!"

Gohan nodded his assent and the two were at the fight mere moments later. Trunks, as expected, was struggling somewhat to keep up with his father and Black who were engaged in a clash of punches and kicks, with Black having the edge. Gohan noted something vicious about his fighting style as he entered the fray.

His calm and almost elegance from before was gone, replaced by vicious blows that made Vegeta actually shout in pain as he grabbed him by the back of his head and proceeded to bash him in the face. Gohan and his father soon intervened, managing to force Black away to block their joint blows but not to actually hurt him.

"Whatever you've done Kakarot," Vegeta groaned as he got back on his feet, spitting out blood. "It's seriously pissed him off, how did you do it?"

"Just an old fishing trick," Gohan's father replied cockily, getting a glare from the Prince.

"What he's done," Black responded, his voice a pitch darker and his scowl deep. "Is made sure you all will perish in the most painful ways possible."

The body snatches aura exploding outward alongside his furious shout took them all a step back, that is, until his uppercut sent Vegeta spinning wildly into the air. Faster than most of them could predict with a power Gohan didn't know where it came from, he appeared then disappeared in the sky, punching and kicking Vegeta around like a human pinball before hurtling him at them with a ki wave.

The remaining three dodged but were scattered by the ensuing explosion. Trunks were the first to get his bearings as he shouted indignantly at Black and throw his whole back at an overhead swing. The body snatcher didn't move, just glaring at his him, that is, until he moved at some point, because the next time Gohan blinked, Trunks' sword was half gone and its owner held aloft by the throat.

Gohan, his father and a roaring Vegeta went to help him, arriving too late to stop Black from headbutting then punching him in the chest before blasting him off into the sky, causing him to get devoured by a series of gargantuan explosions.

Vegeta shouted even louder, coming at Black from low while Gohan came to the front, Goku came from the left. Vegeta, still being the strongest of them, arrived first and so failed the first among them. Black sidestepped him and brought his elbow down on the Prince's skull like a guillotine. Then, he grabbed the blanked out Vegeta by the collar and rammed his knee into the Saiyan's chest pieces, breaking it to pieces.

A heartbeat later, he was using Vegeta as a human mallet, firstly bashing Gohan with his body then Gohan's father then back again. The scholar took a moment to get his bearings and noticed Black releasing Vegeta and facing his father with a look of pure loathing the likes of which he hadn't seen from the body snatcher yet.

Purple, swirling energy surrounding Black's arm, taking the shape of what Gohan initially thought was a blade until he noticed that his father was out of reach, he was too far for the usual blade to reach him.

_Unless it's not a sword!_ Gohan realized as he sprang back into action, focusing as much energy as he could as he flung himself towards his father. Before anyone knew it, he'd struck his father away, leaving himself in his place instead. Sure enough, his suspicions of Black being up to something were confirmed when the energy gathered around didn't morph into a short sword, but into a long, bladed scythe.

One that cut clean through Gohan's barrier and almost all of his lower ribs in half.

"GOHAN!"

He heard his father shout for him as the numbing pain left him gasping blood and for air. His hands reflexively went to his chest to try and stop it but a chuckled caught his attention. Black was smiling again, glancing between Gohan and his father, the demented joy from before back as the scythe morphed into a beam of energy rushing right at the scholar.

The last thing Gohan saw before everything went dark was his fathers face smiling at him just before the man wearing it was killing him.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's one thing I can see legitimately piss off even anime Black, it's being teased with a juicy bit of power only to get trolled out of it. The results, as you can see, are not pretty for the good guys :P
> 
> Next chapter, we arrive at the climax of the battle with more close calls and cunning strategies to go around before the final victors are decided!


	9. One Last Gambit

The rush of energy was like a wave of cold water suddenly splashing against his whole body. Gasping loudly and reflexive trying to stand upright, a series of painful spasms from his body sent him falling back down back down. Gohan laid there, breathing loudly, feeling his muscles ache all over. The various sensations shook him only slightly less than the surprise of still being alive.

_H-how? Black's last attack, I should be dead._

"Calm yourself, Son Gohan," A gruff voice trying to sound gentle told him in a loud whisper. Shifting his neck slightly, Gohan gasped again when he saw it belonged to Kibito. The Kai looked worn and beaten. From the waist up his clothes were gone, revealing burns marks all over his body. He'd also noticed the absence of Kibito's superior.

The Kai seemed to notice Gohan's inspection of him and sighed loudly. "Zamasu, or rather, Black, attacked us and I managed not escape death at the last possible moment. Master Gowasu, however..."

Gohan didn't need to hear any more to understand, Black's boasting already made him accept the worst. If anything, even seeing Kibito alive felt like a miracle. He was about to thank the Kai for healing him when an explosion went off in the distance, violently shaking the ground. Gritting his teeth, the scholar forced himself to a sitting position just in time to see several fires rise into the sky.

Focusing his senses, Gohan's intensely felt the clash of powers happening miles away. From what he could tell, the situation had gotten even worse. His father had lost over half his strength with Vegeta faring only a little better. Trunks was the worst one off, his power barely having any Godly ki left.

Black, somehow, against all common sense, seemed only to get stronger. Even the dip they all felt when he unleashed his master plan was gone, replaced by a whole new surge of ki. It wouldn't stop growing more powerful either.

"I've got to..." Gohan muttered with a nauseating feeling settling in his gut, prompting him to try and join the others. His legs, however, wobbled too wildly for that to work, sending him crashing back to the ground. "Damn it!"

"My apologies, it took considerable effort to save myself. I could not repair your damage any better than this."

 _And I gave dad our last Senzu!_ Gohan shouted, banging the back of his head against the floor.  _Why? Why didn't I cut it in half?! How could I be so stupid!  
_

"Do not blame yourself too much, Son Gohan," Kibito spoke up, staring at the explosions. "Zamasu's darkness was known to me long ago and was left unchecked. Now, even more, innocents will pay for my foolishness."

 _Not if we stop him! But how?_ Gohan racked his brain, trying to think of something, anything besides running away to the past as a solution. Unfortunately, nothing besides precisely that came to mind. Despite all his training and determination to make sure the future wouldn't get destroyed, it looked more and more likely he wouldn't keep his promise to Trunks... or to Videl and Pan.

"Kibito, can you teleport us to Bulma? She should be with the survivors of Earth closeby."

"I will try," He sighed. "But I cannot promise any more than that given my condition."

 _That'll have to be enough._ He nodded his assent, letting Kibito place a hand on his shoulder. He seemed to physically relax for the first time since coming here and a second later, their surroundings shifted from the outside wasteland to what Gohan could only sort of identity as an underground subway system.

"What the-"

"Who is that?!"

"Quick! Get the guns!"

Gohan and Kibito looked around to find dozens of ragged looking people staring at them, frightened by their sudden appearance. The older ones and children were pushed back with the abler bodied looking adults advancing forward with guns and bats and anything else they could use as a weapon.

"GOHAN!" Bulma almost literally blasted right through them, knocking them aside while Mai urged them to relax. She stopped dead when she saw the shape he and Kibito were in. "Oh my god! Quick! Somebody get me some bandages and medicine!"

A couple of kids, a brother, and sister if their resemblance was anything to go by rushed to one of the tents scattered around and sure enough, brought a giant case next to Bulma before scampering off. She'd instructed a pair of men to help Gohan up, putting him on the edge of the railway in a sitting position while Bulma and Mai went to work bandaging him and Kibito up.

"What the hell is going on up there? We keep hearing explosions all over the place, haven't you guys been able to beat Black yet?"

"I'm afraid no, miss Bulma," Kibito stated, wincing slightly as Mai administered some healing gel onto a bad cheek burn. "Though Zamasu was defeated quickly, I'm afraid the one you know as Black has proven himself far more powerful and cunning. At this very moment, he is defeating the others with ease."

"Which is why we have to leave," Gohan said, gently rolling his shoulder up and down. "We can't win, not without any Senzu to restore our powers and Karin definitely won't have enough time to make more for us right now."

"And even if he could, we wouldn't have enough fuel left in the time machine to bring it back," Bulma muttered, looking about the same as Gohan felt, beaten down. "We don't even have enough room inside the machine to transport everyone out all at once!"

"There is also Black's Time Ring to consider," Kibito replied. "Should you all try to leave without keeping him occupied long enough, he will use the Ring to travel back to the present through a tear and will be able to destroy the Earth there as well. Especially with no Lord Beerus or Whis there to stop him."

"You can't suggest that I leave my husband, son and friends here and run away! They'll die for sure!"

"And if you don't leave us, a lot more could when Black goes after us. Remember, we've got his partner with us and he won't let us just slip away." Gohan replied, taking several pills to down the pain and to avoid Bulma's angry look sent his way.

"It is unlikely we could get them out even if we tried, my energy is all but spent, at most, I could save but one. Though, without master Gowasu, I cannot even travel myself back into the past, much less a larger group of people."

"Then we get the children out," The woman from before, the one he felt vaguely familiar, Mai, told them firmly. "They're small enough in number and size to fit inside with you Bulma. As long as the children get away, our Earth has a future in your time. The rest of us will try everything we can to help hold Black off so he doesn't follow you."

Gohan heard shouts of assent from the assembled crowd mixed with forlorn expressions. It was far from what they must've expected when they saw Bulma arrived, she must've told them all about how things were going to get better. How they were going to save the world. They might save a little, at best.

Looking down at his hands, Gohan decided to take another painkiller, he would need to trick himself and his body, more importantly, to think they were fine if he was going to go back out there. Just as he was about to swallow it, Gohan stopped, starring at the little white pill between his fingers. On the edge of his peripheral vision, he saw Bulma's microband still around her upper left arm, swinging this way and back as she and Mai argued about their latest plan.

That was when inspiration struck and a new plan started forming in his head...

* * *

Trunks slammed into Goku, tossed into him by Black a second before he and Vegeta decided to go at it another round. They screamed and groaned when they slammed into another building and felt the giant rocks smash on top of them. It was small potatoes next to the pain coming from his bones and muscles.

At least he had enough strength left to keep himself transformed, Trunks wasn't so lucky, powering down from his weird God form into a Super Saiyan 2.

"Damn it!" He shouted, pushing the rocks off him and looking a lot like his dad. "We've got to do something, Goku!"

"Ugh, I know," Goku replied, cracking the back of his neck. "But I'm outta ideas. I can't make a Genki-Dama with the planet practically dead and knowing our luck, Black'll just power up some more if I could hit him with a Kaio-Ken Bomb."

 _Or even the regular one._ Goku remembered with a grimace, how he'd tried twice to use a halfway version of it to try and beat Black, both times after he'd taunted him about hurting his family only for it smack him back in the face. The first time being when they learned who Black was and the second when Gohan's ki vanished. Now, Black was stronger than ever and another round of Kaio-Ken might be enough to give it to him.

Suddenly, Goku felt a rumbling in his pocket and to his shock, found his phone still intact!

"What is this thing made out of," He wondered out loud, noticing Bulma's number before answering. "Bulma? What are you doing calling me?"

"Dad! Thank goodness you're okay! Is Trunks with you?"

"GOHAN?!" Goku and Trunks both shouted, shocked and relieved to see him alive. "Are you okay?! How'd you survive that blast?!"

"I wouldn't have if it wasn't for Kibito saving me. Right now we're working on something to help Black down and we're gonna need your help to do it."

"Anything's better than what we've got now," Trunks muttered, eyeing the place where they'd just been blasted away from. "What do you need me to do?"

"We'll need your energy, just enough to help me and Kibito go where we need to. We're both kind of running on fumes and every little bit helps."

"And me?" Goku asked his son.

"You and Vegeta keep Black distracted but please, don't hit him anywhere on the torso! Trust me, just leave it alone otherwise things could go horribly wrong."

"Got it, and don't worry, I've got a way to tell Vegeta without Black figuring it out."

"Thanks, dad,... Good luck."

"Yeah, you too." Flipping the phone off, Goku put it back in his pocket then ripped off the torn half of his dogi's shirt. "You heard him Trunks, get on over there, Vegeta and I can handle this."

"I'll be back soon to help you out!"

"Don't try it Trunks," Goku told him firmly. "You weren't doing great when you had God power and Black'll definitely kill you if you try an fight him now."

"I can't just do nothing!" He shouted, trying to look determined but Goku could tell he was beaten pretty good. "At least let me jump in in-case you and dad can't do anymore!"

Goku weighed his options, on one hand, Bulma and Vegeta would kill him if they thought he let Trunks rush into a suicide charge. On the other, he'd seen enough last-minute saves help things out. He'd been part of a few himself over the years.

"Okay, but don't try anything unless me and Vegeta are totally screwed, got it?"

"Yes!" He shouted, immediately brightening up. "Thank you, and please, don't let anything happen to dad!"

"I'll try, now get going!"

Trunks didn't waste any time doing it, suppressing his power and rushing across the blown out city on foot. Goku could feel Vegeta still holding out for dear life, too stubborn to let Black get one over on him. Hopefully, he had enough of that to last just a little more. Focusing his ki into his forehead, he locked onto Vegeta's signature and was there in less than a second.

They were staring each other down, Vegeta in a low guard pose with Black staring him down. Just like he planned, he appeared right above Vegeta and using his hand, balanced himself atop his friend's skull.

"Oops!" Goku said, trying his best to act confused and apologetic while Vegeta was already telling him to go to hell. He hoped his acting chops were good enough because it wasn't a screw-up, he'd intentionally landed like that to link their minds together, transmitting all the information he had on Gohan's plan to Vegeta before falling off.

"Heh, sorry about that!" He chuckled awkwardly, hoping he sounded convincing. Vegeta's pissed off expression definitely looked real if his scowl was anything to go by. But Goku knew he'd gotten the point of it.

"Watch where you're going, clown!"

"Hey! I said I was sorry!"

"Not as sorry as you're going to be in a few moments," Black told him through clenched teeth.

"Still mad about me tricking you, eh? Well, don't worry about it, because you're about to see our full power!"

Goku could swear he noticed a smile show back up.  _That's it, just keep staring at my juicy bait and don't use your brain!_

"What an interesting thing to say, Son Goku," Black crossed his arms. "But forgive my skepticism at witnessing any more impressive showings from either of you, considering your condition."

"You'll be eating those words soon enough!" Vegeta shouted, his Super Saiyan Blue aura shooting up into the sky, Goku didn't waste any time in joining him. Already, the fresh rush of strength and adrenaline helped ease both of their pains and fatigue, it wasn't enough to win but to buy time it would have to be. Vegeta's aura then shrank, focusing all over him into that barrier technique he and Gohan had come up with. It was half the reason he was lasting as long as he was.

Goku decided on something else. Something he knew Black wouldn't be able to resist getting his hands on. With a push of willpower and focus, his entire body let out a rush of red ki that ate his blue aura. "KAIO-KEN!"

If Black was still angry, you probably couldn't tell by the looks of him, the rush of power from the two of them shocked him for a second before that grin of his was back to being plastered across his face. Goku thought that he might start salivating if the two of them didn't immediately decide to rush him.

* * *

_Son Goku, I should never have doubted you!_

Zamasu joyously thought as Goku's fist dug itself into his face, taking him off his feet while Vegeta appeared from behind and struck him from there with a kick to the neck. The body snatching Kai tumbled against the floor, reveling in the glorious pain with a genuine laugh, letting his body instinctively intercept the incoming blows.

His hands and feet easily darted back and forth from the attacks of the two Saiyan's, blocking and parrying, but never dodging. Dodging would mean missing out on the sensations of battle, the struggle to challenge one's self and to improve from the adversity and Zamasu most definitely loved this particular back and forth.

Already, somewhere from the battle memories of Son Goku's body, Zamasu felt familiar sensations burn somewhere in the back of his mind. He started to recall fighting a particular warrior he knew he'd never met before but from the memories of the battle flooding back, one would think otherwise.

_But it's not enough, not yet._

Knowing that Son Goku had even more to offer him, the prudent course of action was to bring that out as well. Dodging for the first time since they'd re-engaged one another, Zamasu ducked behind a right hook, delivering a knee strike to the exposed Saiyan's legs before smacking him aside. Vegeta was already there, preparing to attack as well with a ramming punch.

Zamasu caught it easily, enjoying Vegeta try and fail to dislodged his fist from the Kai's tight grip. With his free hand, another scythe emerged and went to strike down Vegeta. He was counting on Son Goku to rush in, preferably with another, more powerful Kaio-Ken burst to save his compatriot, instead, Vegeta proved himself cunning once more. Focusing his ki barrier entirely in his own free hand, he was able to catch the scythe without it slicing right through him.

Goku's ki flared with another burst and Zamasu felt a sharp jab as a sweep broke his balance. Not that it mattered, for he'd simply powered up and flown upward with Vegeta still trying, and failing to free himself. When Goku went after them, Zamasu delivered a series of quick jabs and slams with his free feet, breaking the Saiyan's power boosting technique and hurtling him into the ground.

But not for long, not when he saw what Zamasu had in store for his appetizer friend.

Pushing Vegeta away, the body snatching Kai unleashed another scythe swing at him, specifically to the left of his face. The Saiyan Prince responded the same as before, managing to focus his barrier entirely on his arm to block the attack. However, mere moments before the blade of energy made contact, Zamasu switched its shape into that of a whip. With a sharp jerk of his hand, the energy whip cracked and the sound of flesh snapping alongside Vegeta's scream filled the air.

The whip had sliced him right across the chest and the plate protecting it, leaving a deep, bleeding gash, his body quite vulnerable now that his ki was predominately focused on the barrier of his arm. Smiling at the Saiyan's misery, Zamasu reeled his arm back and swung again, letting Vegeta think it was going directly for a kill to his throat. This time, he spread the barrier out, letting it cover his upper body. Too late did he realize that it would not work, for the whip broke apart into a series of small but deadly ki needless which Black directed in mid-air to cut into his legs.

Zamasu relished Vegeta's screams until he felt a sudden but faint jab somewhere in his lower chest.

Son Goku finally rising back up quickly put it out of his mind for he was trying to catch Zamasu from behind but only while using the same power boosting level. Feeling annoyed at the Saiyan's sudden hesitance, the only necessary God decided to apply more pressure. Catching another kick from behind, Zamasu powered himself up to a higher level and kept Goku there, helplessly trying to pound away at him with his available limbs to no avail.

All while Vegeta took further punishment, the Saiyan Prince tried to charge but Zamasu put that to bed quickly with another whip slash, this time across his cheek. Feeling himself growing a bit more inventive, he spread the whip out a bit, leaving several dangling bits at the end, allowing him to slice Vegeta up at multiple points with a single stroke. Soon, the Saiyan royalty wasn't even able to put up a barrier period, only capable of floating helplessly as he was torn to pieces.

"You bastard!" Goku shouted from behind, his leg still firmly gripped while the rest of him tried and failed to break free.

 _You know what to do,_ He mentally advised him when another, stronger jab shot through his chest and this made him visibly flinch.  _What on-_

"KAIO-KEN TIMES THREE!" Son Goku proclaimed, breaking his limb free as his greater power boost unleashed such a surge of power that Zamasu genuinely could not react when his feet snapped to attack him from seemingly a dozen directions at once. Zamasu didn't mind, however, for he was laughing all the way down to the ground.

This time, the sensations made more sense and he could actually recall where they were coming from: the battle against the assassin of Universe Six, Hit. As he traded blows with Goku, Zamasu felt the Saiyan's body as it was during the battle, tense but firm, explosive but not overly self-destructive, but above all else, it was supremely powerful.

As they continued their exchange, Goku's edge was replaced by a stalemate where the two of them were perfectly in sync with one another, aiming blows at the exact same angles with the exact same power and speed behind them. Eventually, however, something inside the stolen body of the Saiyan simply... clicked inside Zamasu's head and suddenly, everything seemed possible.

Feeling possibly the greatest rush of Saiyan battle elation he'd ever experienced, Zamasu savored the look of the defiant but desperate Goku coming at him for another strike as though he was in slow motion. Then, with a content smile playing on his lips, he shouted: "KAIO-KEN!"

The next thing they knew, Zamasu's fist was ramming Goku into the ground face first with such force the Kai could swear he felt something in his own hand break from the sudden speed and impact. With a kick to the Saiyan's chest, not only was Goku blasted right out of Kaio-Ken but out of Super Saiyan Blue as well!

"KAKAROT!" Vegeta shouted, still desperately clinging to a foolish hope that he could still win. To emphasize how utterly wrong he was, Zamasu blitzed him with such a fast series of jabs positioned all throughout his body, the Saiyan Prince actually spent several minutes floating in mid-air, wildly spasming and coughing blood before being blasted telekinetically away right next to Son Goku. He too no longer had the power of Super Saiyan Blue.

"Incredible," Zamasu laughed, purposefully mimicking the same attack sequences Goku had used against Hit as he felt his Super Saiyan Rose's beautiful majesty be magnified by a technique of a God. One that would serve solely to improve upon the only God necessary across the multiverse! "Simply incredible!"

"D-damn it, I can't believe... it would end like this..." Zamasu heard Vegeta groan as he just barely got back to his feet.

"We're... not done yet... you know that..." Son Goku replied from next to, looking no better.

The godly indignation at human defiance didn't even exist as he stared them down, rather, Zamasu felt in such high spirits, he could not bring himself to simply destroy them and their planet right up. For all the trouble they'd caused him, this supreme surge of power was simply too intoxicating to not test out just one more time.

"Saiyan's," He announced as he slowly cupped his hands together. "For your services allowing me to attain such great heights, I shall grant you a finer death than the rest of your degenerate, humankind! I shall let you die on your feet as warriors!"

Intensifying the boost of his Kaio-Ken, Zamasu pulled his arms back and slowly began to chant.

"Ka... Ma..." The two Saiyan's looked momentarily shocked before steeling themselves as he knew they would. "Ha... Me..." They powered up as much as they could, a pitiful shadow of their previous efforts but not unexpected.

"Are you ready?!" His aura burst forth to an even higher level, bathing the entire surrounding area in a beautiful mix of blacks, purples, and a deep red. Focusing as much of that power into his upcoming blast as he could, Zamasu grinned and was about to proclaim the final piece of the name when the same pain from before only a hundred times worse suddenly exploded from inside him.

He fought to keep his balance as something came rushing upwards from the pit of his stomach and erupted from his mouth in a mix of vomit and blood. Instantly, Zamasu lost focus as he was forced to his knees, gagging loudly and disgustingly for a being of his stature as he emptied the contents of his insides. The loss of focus on the Kaio-Ken, however, caused another series of far worse pains to shake through him like a jolt of electricity, making him spasm even as the vomit kept on coming out.

Then, he felt something incredibly dense in the back of his throat and was forced to pound on his chest to try and get it out. When he inspected it, he didn't know what to make of it.  _A... ball?!_

But he soon saw that it was no ball, for it was made of Ki... belonging to the firstborn of Son Goku! As the orb struck into the puddle, two incredibly small... people it seemed like, flew away from it and grew dozens of times over right before Zamasu's eyes. Revealing themselves to be the first born and Kibito!

"W-what..." Zamasu managed to demand before gaging again. "What have you... to me...?!"

"Destroyed you from the inside out," Kibito spoke, whatever small of misguided pity his gaze once held replaced by something firm. "We realized we could not defeat you through martial might, so we did something else."

"See this case?" The firstborn spoke, tossing an empty suitcase filled with dozens of empty bottles and creams, all of which were seemingly medicinal in nature. "Bulma, Trunks' mother who you murdered in this timeline gave us those and her microband shrinking technology to dump inside of you. What you see right there are enough drugs to kill off a whole horde of Tyrannosaurs. But a Saiyan's stomach is a tough thing, so we threw in a few ki bombs for good measure."

"You..!" Zamasu shouted through grit teeth as the horrific pain kept him on his knees. "You bastard! You teleported him inside of me!"

"Yes," That small pitty momentarily came back to Kibito's eyes and Zamasu wished he was able to cut him down for it. "But it was necessary to stop you, your crimes are numerous Zamasu and I was not about to let you continue your misguided slaughter of these intelligent, feeling creatures you so discredit."

Now, both Son Goku and Vegeta had limped there to stand a few feet away, all four of them standing over him, watching him writhe in pain and misery, so secure they had won. So sure they had managed to outsmart him.

 _We shall see about that,_ Remembering his practice of relishing pain, Zamasu managed to steel himself just enough to make his body rush towards them. For a moment, the fear had come back, so apparent on their disgusting faces. Yet, just as the Kai was about to form a blade to cut them all down with, something cut through him instead, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Jerking his head downward, Zamasu's eyes widened as he saw an energy blade cutting right through him, a blade of pure gold. Tilting his head to the back, he saw it was only part one, it was a physical blade, one he'd seen many times over the past year with ki focused through it to repair the damage done. The one holding it was no surprise, but the look of determination with a hint of satisfaction on this face in-particular sent a fresh surge of hate and anger ripple through the core of Zamasu's being.

"This is the end for you, Black!" Trunks declared, taking another step forward and digging his blade even further into Zamasu's chest. The Kai glared at him, and tried to make his body break free, tried to move but nothing listened, though his spirit was still strong and virulent, his body, his human, fallible body, was shutting he vaguely recalled his counterpart chastize him for not becoming immortal himself and Zamasu, in his final moments, began to loathe him as well.

But it was not the final thing Zamasu, known as Goku Black thought before Trunks pulled the sword upward and cut him in half. What thought, what he demanded to know as he died was. "HOW?! HOW CAN THIS BE HOW IT ENDS?!"

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the Zero Humans Plan, defeated by a bunch of lucky calls and crazy plans going right than bad then right back again!
> 
> Originally, I was thinking of a more fanservice ending concerning the Potara and having Gohan & Trunks fuse to kill Black that way but it felt too fanwanky and generic for my tastes. This one feels much more clever if you ask me though I suspect not everyone will feel that way.
> 
> Anyway, the penultimate chapter is done! Now, all that's left is the epilogue where I've got a couple more surprises in store for you guys!


End file.
